Farakka Long March day still relevant in Bangladesh: Fakhrul

[Black_cats]

Farakka Long March day still relevant in Bangladesh: Fakhrul

Staff Correspondent | Published: 21:30, May 15,2021

Farakka Long March day still relevant in Bangladesh: Fakhrul

Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said that Bangladesh was suffering from an acute water crisis and difficulties in agricultural productions as India declined to...

www.newagebd.net

A New Age file photo of Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir

Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said that Bangladesh was suffering from an acute water crisis and difficulties in agricultural productions as India declined to share water equitably with Bangladesh.

The party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came up with the remarks in a message on the eve of the 45th anniversary of historic Farakka Long March.

The day will be observed on Sunday.
Fakhrul said that the Farakka Long March day was still relevant in Bangladesh since the country is yet to get an equitable share of the water of Teesta and other rivers.

He alleged that India had constructed dams to obstruct water flows of the 54 common rivers defying international laws and conventions.

Related Coverage:

• › GK irrigation project runs dry as India releases less water thru Farakka
• › Farakka Committee calls for basin-wide management of common rivers

On May 16, 1976, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani led a massive long march from Rajshahi towards India’s Farakka barrage, demanding the demolition of the barrage constructed by the Indian government to divert the flow of Ganges water inside its territory.

Thousands of people participated in the long march and staged demonstration protesting at the construction of the barrage.

The Farakka Barrage across the Ganges in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly 16.5 kilometers away from the Chapainawabganj border, impacted adversely on Bangladesh’s ecology since its commissioning.

Bangladesh National Awami Party chairman Jebel Rahman Ghani and secretary general M Golam Mostafa Bhuiyan, in a separate message on the eve of the day, said that Farakka Long March had inspired people to protest against any wrongdoing.

The statement said India had always deprived Bangladesh of just share of water. The water issue remained unresolved with India for 50 years, thanks to the reluctance and failure of Bangladesh’s ruling quarters.

 

[bluesky]

Farakka Long March day still relevant in Bangladesh: Fakhrul

The Farakka Long March is long dead. It is time the people of BD start another march that can be named, "The Padma Barrage Long March". BD should build its own barrage and retain water in this reservoir instead of blaming India and doing nothing by itself to reverse the situation. BD allows the Padma water to flow into the BoB and systematically blames Farakka for the shortage of water.

I propose a Barrage at the south of Chandpur after the Padma water mixes with the Meghna water and makes one combined flow.

 

[Bilal9]

The Farakka Long March is long dead. It is time the people of BD start another march that can be named, "The Padma Barrage Long March". BD should build its own barrage and retain water in this reservoir instead of blaming India and doing nothing by itself to reverse the situation. BD allows the Padma water to flow into the BoB and systematically blames Farakka for the shortage of water.

I propose a Barrage at the south of Chandpur after the Padma water mixes with the Meghna water and makes one combined flow.

@bluesky bhai - I don't know, but the barrage at that place (lower Meghna river) will be tough to build. The river in monsoon season at that place is about a mile wide or wider and extremely deep mid-stream (1500+ feet).

Here is Chandpur Launch Terminal during a storm

 

[bluesky]

@bluesky bhai - I don't know, but the barrage at that place (lower Meghna river) will be tough to build. The river in monsoon season at that place is about a mile wide or wider and extremely deep mid-stream (1500+ feet).

Here is Chandpur Launch Terminal during a storm

Thanks for the informative post. I had little or no idea about this large depth of Meghna near Chandpur point. I checked the wiki below, it says the same thing.

I am surprised at this depth of 300m, especially when we see so many islands are being formed in the BoB near the shorelines but Meghna is soooo deep in a place far away from the estuary.

Rajbari point, to me, is too near Rajshahi and hence will retain a very low amount of water. There must be some better locations in between Chandpur and Rajbari to construct a barrage.

Meghna River - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

simple.wikipedia.org

 

[Bilal9]

Thanks for the informative post. I had little or no idea about this large depth of Meghna near Chandpur point. I checked the wiki below, it says the same thing.

I am surprised at this depth of 300m, especially when we see so many islands are being formed in the BoB near the shorelines but Meghna is soooo deep in a place far away from the estuary.

Rajbari point, to me, is too near Rajshahi and hence will retain a very low amount of water. There must be some better locations in between Chandpur and Rajbari to construct a barrage.

Meghna River - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

simple.wikipedia.org

You are right, barrage will have to be closer to the border - starting near Farakka where river is not as deep. Catchment areas and embankments have to be designed carefully and maintained by dredging consistently. I do not know much about the Ganges-Kobadak (Kapotakkha) project, nor am I a hydrologist. Here are the details.

I think there are Monga (drought-prone) areas in North Bengal near the Teesta Barrage which will help irrigation there. GK project near Padma was supposed to do the same irrigation wonders for the Kushtia area (see below).

A barrage on the Padma may be good in keeping the Hilsa to our side of the border. We should provide subsidies to our fishermen to catch all the fish before it goes upstream.

These idiots dammed at Farakka point so now the Hilsa can't go upstream. Now they are planning to open up the dam in places so Hilsa can move upstream. They invented stories that Hilsa used to swim up to Agra before they dammed the river.

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC Exam 2024, Today’s Current Affairs

StudyIQ provides best current affairs, latest news and GK Updates for UPSC IAS exam. Read daily Current Affairs and attempt quiz for UPSC prelims and mains exam.

currentaffairs.studyiq.com

By the way we discussed this back in 2016. @fallstuff bhai started the thread. Where is @TopCat bhai - haven't seen him for a while.

$4 billion Padma ( Ganga) Barrage Project

$4 billion Padma ( Ganga) Barrage Project The Padma (Ganges) Barrage Project is a proposed project in Bangladesh to hold back rain water of the monsoon season because of the periodic drying up of the Ganges River in Bangladesh due to the Farakka Barrage. The Ganges barrage will be a 165 km...

defence.pk

 

[bluesky]

You are right, barrage will have to be closer to the border - starting near Farakka where river is not as deep. Catchment areas and embankments have to be designed carefully and maintained by dredging consistently. I do not know much about the Ganges-Kobadak (Kapotakkha) project, nor am I a hydrologist. Here are the details.

Thanks, but I was telling the Barrage to be placed farther away from the border or Farakka.

- The two banks of a river when raised by soils and heavily compacted are dykes/ dikes/ levies/ embankments. The engineering parameters of soil are the factors that decide the (max) height of a dike.

- A Barrage is built across a river that retains the upstream water. This is why in the case of Padma a Barrage shall be built a little south of Rajbari. This is how the total reservoir area within the two banks/sluice gates and one Barrage becomes larger.

- This is why selecting the Barrage site closer to Farakka will bring little results because the reservoir area will be very small comparing to a situation when the Barrage is built somewhere farther away. The area of the reservoir will be much larger.

 

[VikingRaider]

This is why selecting the Barrage site closer to Farakka will bring little results because the reservoir area will be very small comparing to a situation when the Barrage is built somewhere farther away. The area of the reservoir will be much larger.

One question if you can answer. Isn't it strategic benefit if we make barrage neat farakka? So that when in flood season India open sluice gates of farakka , we can close the sluice gates of our barrage?

So the upstream water won't cross the barrage and India will be flooded?

 

[bluesky]

One question if you can answer. Isn't it strategic benefit if we make barrage neat farakka? So that when in flood season India open sluice gates of farakka , we can close the sluice gates of our barrage?

So the upstream water won't cross the barrage and India will be flooded?

No, unfortunately, it will serve no purpose for BD. BD wants to create a reservoir to contain water in the Padma by raising the bank heights, building a barrage across the river a little south of Rajbari, and constructing tens of sluice gates at the mouth of all those distributor channels/rivers that shoot off the Padma.

The gates in the Barrage would be closed immediately after the flood season that would contain water within that large area. This water in the reservoir will be used to irrigate the farmlands near and beyond the Padma in winter.

Now, if the Barrage is built very near the Farakka Barrage, very little water can be contained in that small area. So, no reason to build a Barrage there.

We do not have to worry that much about Hilish going through the Farakka Barrage to India. Unless that Barrage has been equipped with a few Fish Ladders, a big number of our Hilsha cannot really go there except only a few through the open gates.

However, if they keep the gates open in winter to lure our Hilsha, water will rush out to our side through the bottom of the gates.

 

[Paul2]

Thanks, but I was telling the Barrage to be placed farther away from the border or Farakka.

- The two banks of a river when raised by soils and heavily compacted are dykes/ dikes/ levies/ embankments. The engineering parameters of soil are the factors that decide the (max) height of a dike.

- A Barrage is built across a river that retains the upstream water. This is why in the case of Padma a Barrage shall be built a little south of Rajbari. This is how the total reservoir area within the two banks/sluice gates and one Barrage becomes larger.

- This is why selecting the Barrage site closer to Farakka will bring little results because the reservoir area will be very small comparing to a situation when the Barrage is built somewhere farther away. The area of the reservoir will be much larger.

The man knows what he is talking. Listen to him.

 

[bluesky]

The man knows what he is talking. Listen to him.

I know what I am talking about. So, please explain your position elaborately so that I can understand my mistakes. I quote him, "barrage will have to be closer to the border - starting near Farakka".

If by talking barrage he meant dike/ dyke/ bund/ embankment along the two riverbanks, yes, it should start at the border with India. But, Barrage is a different thing. I envision about 10 m+ high dikes on both the banks of the river.

Why do you think a barrage near Farakka will create a big reservoir? If the purpose of building a barrage is to create a reservoir, then it must be farther from Farakka. The length of the reservoir is long (say, 150 km from the border) that will create a larger lake/reservoir.

A barrage near Farakka will create a very small lake. Do not you think so?

@Bilal9

 

[Bilal9]

I know what I am talking about. So, please explain your position elaborately so that I can understand my mistakes. I quote him, "barrage will have to be closer to the border - starting near Farakka".

If by talking barrage he meant dike/ dyke/ bund/ embankment along the two riverbanks, yes, it should start at the border with India. But, Barrage is a different thing. I envision about 10 m+ high dikes on both the banks of the river.

Why do you think a barrage near Farakka will create a big reservoir? If the purpose of building a barrage is to create a reservoir, then it must be farther from Farakka. The length of the reservoir is long (say, 150 km from the border) that will create a larger lake/reservoir.

A barrage near Farakka will create a very small lake. Do not you think so?

@Bilal9

@bluesky bhai I am not a hydrologist so can't really speak to the technical aspects of water catchment and irrigation reservoirs. So my opinion may not carry much weight in any case.

I have to understand the GK Plan and look into it further. Part of the GK plan was implemented for irrigation, but only during monsoon when they open Farakka sluice gates. I don't think they have created catchment basins AFAIK.

Back in 2016 @TopCat bhai also commented that Bangladesh came up with winter variety of rice during Kharip season so need for irrigation at that time was obviated anyways.

 

[bluesky]

I have to understand the GK Plan and look into it further. Part of the GK plan was implemented for irrigation, but only during monsoon when they open Farakka sluice gates. I don't think they have created catchment basins AFAIK.

GK project was done during the mid-60s (?) as far as I remember on the premise to pump up water from the Ganges to the channels on the southwest of the Padma to irrigate the farmlands.

But, as usual, our planners had a weak understanding that water would be running short in winter when irrigation is needed. It has some good effects but it generally failed to achieve its goals. Not a large many acres of land have been benefitted. Please open the link below.

Ganges-Kobadak Irrigation Project - Banglapedia

en.banglapedia.org

GK Irrigation Project is actually a piecemeal project because it does not even cover the entire area encompassing greater Kushtia and Jessore districts.

This is why a comprehensive project is needed whereby the farm areas are covered fully in the greater districts of Kushtia, Jessore. Khulna, Faridpur, Barisal, and Patuakhali in the west bank, and greater Rajshahi, and (eastern) Dhaka districts in the east. In comparison, the GK project covers only a few thousand acres of land.

The main components of the proposed project are as follows:

- Both the banks of the Padma are to be raised by say, 10 m
- The dikes/ banks are protected from being washed away by the strong current with the placing of concrete blocks all along
- Dredgings are done to regularize the flow channel
- Sluice gates are placed at the mouths of the offshoot rivers, such as Gorai, Kumar, Kabodak, etc., from the Padma.
- A long barrage is built across the width of the Padma somewhere north of the Bhanga-Mawa line and above the new Padma Bridge.

This is how we get a very large water reservoir, whose depth is 15m, width 5km, and length about 150 km. The reservoir can contain a water volume of about,

{(150km x 1,000m) x (5km x 1000m) x 15m} = 6,750 million m3 or 238,190 million cft. of water.

A paddy crop needs a total of 2.0 ft of irrigation water in winter. and 43, 560 sft. makes 1.0 acre. So, virtually this reservoir, with a ZERO dry season water from India, can still irrigate, {(238,190 million cft.)/ (2ft x 43,560 sq.ft.)} = about 2.73 million acres of paddyland.

Note that BD has a total of about 21 million acres of farmland and not every patch of land is used to grow paddy. Non-paddy crops need lesser irrigation water. So, I believe more than 3.5 to 4.5 million acres can be irrigated which is very large.

Moreover, India will be sending about 30, 000 cft./second of water through Farakka, and BD has other river systems that can be similarly disciplined to irrigate nearby lands.

BD will really become a gold-producing country if its water is used in a proper way.

Sorry for the very long post. But, I hope this will satisfy some of your inquisitiveness on the GK Project and a proposed Barrage.

 

[Paul2]

I know what I am talking about. So, please explain your position elaborately so that I can understand my mistakes. I quote him, "barrage will have to be closer to the border - starting near Farakka".

If by talking barrage he meant dike/ dyke/ bund/ embankment along the two riverbanks, yes, it should start at the border with India. But, Barrage is a different thing. I envision about 10 m+ high dikes on both the banks of the river.

Why do you think a barrage near Farakka will create a big reservoir? If the purpose of building a barrage is to create a reservoir, then it must be farther from Farakka. The length of the reservoir is long (say, 150 km from the border) that will create a larger lake/reservoir.

A barrage near Farakka will create a very small lake. Do not you think so?

@Bilal9

Missed in translation. I meant that he needs to listen to you, not vice versa.