Abstract
Every year hundreds are killed and millions made homeless by floods in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Basins. Every year millions go hungry because of the low productivity of agriculture in the region and the unequal distribution of its benefits. Some thirty percent of the world's poorest 800 million people live in the Basins of the Ganges and Brahmaputra. Their future prosperity depends both on changed agrarian relations and on the development of the resources of the two rivers. While coordinated development of the rivers could increase agricultural productivity and provide enormous quantities of hydroelectricity for the three main countries of the region—India, Nepal and Bangladesh—for the last thirty years such development has been precluded by intergovernmental dispute over the sharing of the Ganges. The conduct of the dispute is frequently determined by the immediate political needs of the factions in power in India and Bangladesh. As long as that remains the case, proposals for the regulation and development of the Ganges and Brahmaputra are likely to stagnate.
Notes
For simplicity the terms “India” or “the Indian Government” and “Bangladesh” or “the Bangladesh Government” are used interchangeably.The context should indicate whether the state apparatus or the geographic entity is intended.
References
- Allen, Wm. H. , and , Co., 1858. A memorandum on the water communication between Rajmahal and Calcutta . Calcutta: Alipore Jail Press; 1858, London, 1854.
- Ippen , and Wicker , 1962. The Hooghly River Problem . 1962. pp. 38–40, mimeo.
- Posthuman , 1961. Report on the development of the Port of Calcutta . 1961.
- Roy , 1971. The agony of West Bengal: a study in Union-State relations . Calcutta: New Age.; 1971.
- Basu, S.R. , and Chakraborty, S.C. , 1972. “Some considerations on the decay of the Bhagirathi drainage system.” . Presented at The Bhagirathi-Hooghly Basin (Proceedings of an interdisciplinary Symposium), in.
- Hodson, H.V. , 1969. The Great Divide . London: Hutchinson; 1969. pp. 318–21.
- Maxwell, N. , 1972. India's China War . Penguin; 1972. pp. 142–44, 264-67.
- Guatam, Sid , “Inter-state water disputes: a case study of India.” , Water Resources Bulletin, 12 5, pp. 1061–69.
- Lipper, J. , “Equitable utilisation.” . pp. 28–34.
- Hassan, Tariq , “Ganges waters treaty.” , Harvard International Law Journal, 19 2, pp. 722–23.
- Nayar , 1975. Distant neighbors . Delhi: Vikas; 1975. pp. 75–75, (Bell edition).
- 1975. "“Joint declaration on the treaty of friendship, co-operation and peace.”". In: Kumar, Satish , ed. Documents on India's Foreign Policy 1972 . Delhi: Macmillan; 1975, in.
- Lifschultz , 1979. Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution . London: Zed; 1979. pp. 101–3.