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This book presents multi-disciplinary analyses of the environmental effects and implications in Bangladesh and India of the Ganges water diversion. The analyses demonstrate that the downstream part of the Ganges River basin in Bangladesh, which has a sensitive ecosystem, has become very vulnerable to water diversion and as a result it has caused significant damage to many economic sectors and ecosystems. Areas upstream of the Farakka Barrage in India have become more vulnerable to floods and riverbank erosion. The Kolkata Port has marginally benefited from the water diversion. In the Hooghly River estuary, populations of flora and fauna have thrived. In the downstream areas of Bangladesh costly adaptation measures have been adopted and in many cases damages are irreparable. A regional cooperative framework is presented to foster water resources and environmental development in the Ganges River basin.
Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Glossary.- The Ganges water diversion: environmental effects and implications - an introduction.- Hydrological changes in Bangladesh.- Role of Farakka Barrage on the disasterous 1998 flood in Malda (West Bengal).- Impact of upstream human interventions on the morphology of the Ganges-Gorai system.- Effects on water salinity in Bangladesh.- Farrakka Barrage and its impact on the hydrology and fishery of Hooghly Estuary.- Implications on ecosystems in Bangladesh.- Watering the Bangladeshi Sundharbans.- Adverse effects on agriculture in the Ganges Basin in Bangladesh.- Environmental impacts of the Ganges water diversion and its international legal aspects.- Watching the Farakka Barrage: role of media.- Vulnerability to the Ganges water diversion: adaptation and coping mechanisms.- The Ganges water sharing treaty: risk analysis of the negotiated discharge.- Regional cooperation on water and environment in the Ganges Basin: Bangladesh perspectives.- Annex I.- Index.
