Retracted: Trans-Boundary Water Sharing of the Ganges River: A Regional Planning Approach

Fresh water sharing of common rivers or water bodies like lakes/reservoirs among the concerned countries are always a critical issue worldwide and requires rigorous information-based analysis to reach a common and acceptable agreement. In the context of trans-boundary rivers, the situation of Bangladesh is unique. Being a small country with only about 144,000 sq. km. area, it contains 57 trans-boundary rivers out of which 54 are along the India-Bangladesh border and the rest three are along Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Most of the fresh water flow in the major rivers is from the contribution of watersheds lying out side Bangladesh. Fresh water flow in the trans-boundary rivers vary greatly from almost zero in the dry season to about 80,000 cumecs in the monsoon. Reduction of fresh water supply in the dry season causes chronic economic, social and environmental hazards in the lower riparian region which results indescribable distress to the people. This paper discusses the needs and sharing issues of fresh water in the trans-boundary river systems along Indo-Bangladesh boarders with specific reference to Ganges River water. It proposes that the countries sharing the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basin take a regional approach, instead of taking several bilateral approaches that have failed to fulfill the needs of the people of this region.