Sen, H.S. and Dipankar Ghorai (2014). Cleaning the Ganges-Ensuring Environmental Water Flows in the River Ganga for Sustainable Ecology in the Lower Delta across India and Bangladesh. Yojana (Special Article) September,

Ensuring Environmental Water Flows in the River Ganga for Sustainable Ecology in the Lower Delta across India and Bangladesh

HSSen

Dipankar Ghorai 

"Nowhere is the problem of cooperation between riparian neighbours as critical as in the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin in South Asia. Nowhere are the benefits of cooperation as spectacular for the futures of the countries involved, and nowhere is the penalty for non-cooperation as devastating."- Jagan Mehta

There is fast dete­rioration of Environmental (E)-flows of both Hooghly-Bhagirathi and Ganga/Padma-Brahmaputra river systems in the entire lower Ganges delta across India and Bangladesh. To ensure sustainable ecology in the delta of the sub-continent, there is need for close introspection and appropri­ate action in a holistic manner to restore the E-flows of the river system. Appropriate interventions are needed to resuscitate the Ganga to arrest the adverse trend of hydrology considered to be possibly the most important component of E-flows at the earliest and, in due course, reverse it for sustainable ecology and thereby for improved livelihood (Sen, 2010, Sen et al., 2012). Other important components of E-flows may be socio-cultural, geomorphological, water quality, and biodiversity (Kaushal, 2014), depending upon how the respective river is looked at in terms its uses in the region, together constitutes the Integrated Water Resources Development and Management, conceived by the Central Water Commission of GoI (CWC, 2008). The E-flows especially in the upstream of the river Ganga in India are factored mainly by hydro-power development and irrigation projects, norms of which to draw quantum of water with respect to the flow rate have been so far arbitrarily decided during planning and without provision for sound assessment of the impacts, although some attempts have been made lately for such assessment, noteworthy of which has been by WWF-India (Kaushal, 2014), all along the route. Detailed account of various uses in the river Ganga has been comprehensively dealt with stating Ganga as one of the world’s top ten rivers at risk due to water over-extraction and pollution    (Sanghi and Kaushal, 2014) quoting the data of WWF-International, Gland, Switzerland. The role of India in this regard sharing entirely the upstream flow of water passing through a

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Dr^. H.S.Sen is the Former Director, Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres (ICAR), Barrackpore, West Bengal, India (Present address for communication: 2/74 Naktala, Kolkata - 700 047). He has specialization in water management & soil salinity research in coastal ecosystem for over 30 years. Dr. Dipankar Ghorai is the Subject Matter Specialist, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Central Research Institute for Jute & Allied Fibres, ICAR), Bud Bud, Burdwan, West Bengal, India – 713403.

number of states before reaching the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal is therefore imminent to study its impact due to alleged wrong-doings both at public and private sectors on the South Bengal (India) and a major part of Bangladesh, being the focus in this paper. This necessitates a holistic plan to be taken up by governments of both countries in mutual consultation of each other at the administrative level for ecological sustenance in the entire Ganga delta.

Farakka Barrage and the India-Bangladesh treaty

The construction of a Barrage across the Ganga and diversion of water towards the Bhagirathi was first suggested by Sir Arthur Cotton in 1853, and named after Farakka in West Bengal 17 km upstream of the diversion of the river into Hooghly-Bhagirathi flowing through India and Padma-Brahmaputra-Meghna and their tributaries into Bangladesh - all finally terminating into the Bay of Bengal. The hypothesis of arithmetic hydrology worked out in favour of the Barrage was subsequently proved too inadequate to bring about any positive impact either to flush out sediment load to increase navigational prospect for the Kolkata Port or to share dry season flow between the two countries for their mutual benefits, the very purposes for which it was conceived.

Staggering amount of water withdrawal in the upstream through various hydro-power and irrigation projects, already commissioned while many more yet to come, with norms arbitrarily decided in most on the amount and rate of abstraction, and their interactions with deteriorating water quality, might be assumed to be the key factor pertinent to E-flows. This is a serious concern and we must be cautioned in view of catastrophic incidence at Uttarakhand in the recent past.

Immediately after independence of Bangladesh in 1971, realizing the problem due to reduced  water flow though the Padma-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system in the country particularly in the south-west region and consequent social and cultural conflicts it was to face, there were a few short-term agreements between the two countries, first in 1974 for three years, then in 1977 and two more in eighties, all of which failed to bear the fruits particularly from Bangladesh’s interest point of view, and the matter was even discussed at CHOGM in 1993 at the behest of Bangladesh. Government of India, realizing this, constituted experts’ committees for a possible solution, thus requiring a holistic planning to ensure security to the inhabitants on either side of the Ganga (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People). The Indo-Bangladesh agreement (1996), now valid for 30 years, over the sharing of Ganga water was based on the average discharge of the river during preceding last four decades (1949-1988). There was little compatibility between computed flow in 1977 and the actually available flow at Farakka after that, the reason being that the lean season flow during the earlier decades was much higher than what it was later. In short, the treaty of 1996 was framed without any regard to the projected flow of water, continually being affected due to large diversion of the river water at the upstream for long list of hydro-power and irrigation projects, thereby affecting still both the countries. It is also true that the dynamic equilibrium of the Ganga river and its tributaries have been largely disturbed due to inadequate planning for the construction of the Barrage.

List of hydro-power development & irrigation projects, and water quality

Figure 1. Line diagram of the Ganga with its tributaries along with water management structures (Source: National River Conservation Directorate (2009), free access permitted)

A very large number of hydro-power and irrigation projects along with their capacities in the Bhagirathi and Alakananda Basins of river Ganga have been documented (Sanghi and Kaushal, 2014,  South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People) contributing to deteriorating E-flows. A line diagram on the Ganga water flow along with a large number of projects already commissioned, many more are still in the pipe line (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, National River Conservation Directorate, 2009), are shown in Figures 1,2. The affected lengths of Alakananda and Bhagirathi rivers and their tributaries (Table 1) show massive amount of Ganga water sources being utilized for hydro-power stations in Uttrarakhand itself (Wildlife Institute of India, 2012), being an example. Besides, various point and non-point sources of pollution in the upstream have also been documented (Sanghi and Kaushal, 2014), and this may be of more importance contributing to E-flows in certain situations. The poor quality of water in the Ganga throughout its length (Trivedi) is shown in Figures 3,4, and further suggest that during pre-GAP and at subsequent stages various actions taken by GoI (GAP–I in 1985, GAP-II, 1993, National River Conservation Plan in 1996) have been one of mixed success, and deserve pointed and much more elaborate actions in future (Sanghi and Kaushal, 2014, National River Conservation Directorate , 2009). On the top of these, climate change has a phenomenal influence through all the components on E-flows on temporal scale. It is now well established that glaciers around the world – and especially in the Hindu Kush Himalayas – are retreating due to global warming. However, there are huge data gaps on the extent of the retreat and the effect this will have on the rivers coming down from these mountains known as the water tower of Asia. Overall, the Kathmandu-based study of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)  predicted that Himalayan water flow from the glaciers to the basins would reduce by 25-50% by the end of this century, with the reduction getting worse as one travelled from west to east. But at the same time, the western rivers were the ones more dependent on water from glacier melt, while the eastern rivers got more rain (thethirdparty.net), clearly indicating the influence of climate change on Ganga-Brahmaputra river system both originating at Tibet but later meeting at Bangladesh. Results to the contrary have however also been reported, although on a low-key (The Times of India, 2014). 

According to the National River Commission Directorate (2009), however, despite the problems of operation and maintenance river water quality has shown discernible improvement (in terms of DO and BOD) over the pre-GAP period. This has to be seen in the background of a steep increase in population with concomitant increase in organic pollution load. In the absence of Ganga Action Plan, there would have been further deterioration in these parameters. The high BOD values in some of the towns are attributed to increased

Table 1. Affected lengths of Alakananda and Bhagirahi rivers and their tributaries due to allotted hydro- power development projects in Uttarakhand (Source: Wildlife Institute of India, 2012,; Upper reaches of river have not been accounted for)

Sl.no.	River	Total river stretch (m)	River stretch diverted (m)	River stretch submerged (m)	Affected length (m)	% of river length diverted	% of river length submerged	% of river length affected
Bhagirathi basin
1	Bhagirathi	217000	68031	85400	153431	31	39	70.71
2	Asiganga	20500	10945	0	10945	53	0	53.39
3	Bhilangana	109000	20369	19000	39369	19	17	36.12
4	Bal ganga	37000	14721	0	14721	40	0	39.79
5	Small tributaries	73000	16401	0	16401	22	0	22.47
Alakananda basin
6	Aalakananda	224000	60412	47100	107512	27	21	48.00
7	Dhauliganga	50000	46794	0	46794	94	0	93.59
8	Rishiganga	38500	10426	600	11026	27	2	28.64
9	Birahi ganga	29500	21926	0	21926	74	0	74.32
10	Nandakini	44500	15507	0	15507	35	0	34.85
11	Mandakini	81000	34875	500	35375	43	1	43.67
12	Pindar	114000	24974	10000	34974	22	9	30.68

Figure 2. Hydro-electric power projects on the river Ganga (Source: South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, reproduced with permission of the authority)

population and partial interception and diversion under GAP schemes. The water quality of the river is likely to improve when all the ongoing works are completed and the entire waste water being generated is tackled. A comparison of pre-GAP and post-GAP values of the three critical parameters, namely DO, BOD and Coliforms reveals the following: Dissolved Oxygen is largely within acceptable limits. In the upper Ganga, from origin to Hardwar, the water quality is more or less of Bathing Standards (Class B).  Higher levels of coliform are present almost throughout Ganga. GAP has not been able to adequately address the issue of coliforms. The stretch from Kannauj to Kanpur and Allahabad to Varanasi remains critical and needs focused attention. Apart from higher levels of coliforms, the norms for BOD indicating organic pollution are also exceeded in this stretch. A study on development of scenarios on comparison of river water quality without GAP showed that a stretch of about 740 km (out of total 1520 km) between Rishikesh and  Rajmahal would have violated the BOD limit  of 3 mg/l without GAP. The study also indicated that stretch of about 437 km had a BOD level above the permissible limit of 3 mg/l after GAPI.

Dwindling water flow and deteriorating water quality in the downstream have affected drastically the livelihood in many ways. A vivid description of this in the form of bamboo post-harvesting in the river Hooghly is just an example affecting large number of people, as a result their profession may be heading towards extinction if this process continues (Ghorai and Sen, 2014).    

Figure 3. Fecal coliforms in water at different monitoring places on Ganga   (Source: R.C.Trivedi, http://www.old.cseindia.org/misc/ganga/state_pollution.pdf, reproduced with permission of the author ) Reproduced with permission of the author,

Figure 4. Pollution in Indian rivers (drawn based on the data source with permission of the author: R.C.Trivedi, http://www.old.cseindia.org/misc/ganga/state_pollution.pdf

Source: Wildlife Institute of India6

% of total polluted riverine length

% of total riverine length

Adverse impact on the ecology of lower Ganga

There are 57 rivers and their tributaries criss-crossing Bangladesh, and out of this 54, Ganga being the mightiest of all, come via India, and only 3 from Myanmar. India has a major responsibility to maintain E-flows for sustained livelihood of the inhabitants of our neighbours, where water plays the most crucial role.

Hydrology and sedimentation load

The Hooghly’s flow is oscillating; the water level fluctuates twice a day, owing to the tides, and changes its hydro-morphology. Its estuary below Diamond Harbour being funnel-shaped, it restricts the optimum tidal influx which primarily governs the channel regime and its navigability. The sediment movement in tidal estuary of the Hooghly is the function of a complex fluvial system that can hardly be governed by inducing 40000 cusec (1132 cumec) of flow. The available flow even dwindled to 454 cumec in the first week of April causing declining in the navigability for the Kolkata Port. The adverse effect in the Indian part could be verified from the fact that the annual quantum of dredging increased from 6.40 MCM during pre-Farakka days to 13.24 MCM during post-Farakka days quoted up to 1995, and then to 21.18 MCM quoted for 1999-2003 (Rudra  2006). Besides, sediments are trapped in the barrage-pond raising the level significantly and also encouraging the river course to change its direction both upstream and downstream.

It is true that there are interferences of the Ganga’s regime due to construction of Farraka Barrage giving rise to problems and disadvantages – changes with water level, discharge, sediment movement, bed slope, etc. caused by aggradations and degradation of the bed and the entire reach from Rajmahal to Farakka in the upstream and from Farakka to quite a distance downstream. Alluvial fans formed on the right side and the deep channel shifted to the left above the Barrage. Bank erosion got worse and was usually highest during August and September. There were direct and indirect effects of sedimentation pattern of the Ganga-Padma in Bangladesh as well, which would eventually increase siltation and erosion of the river beds and banks, ultimately affect the channel and cause other morphological changes (Parua, 2009).

The complacency of the administration to arrange roadways through silted up river beds in the Indian Sundarbans at the expense of drying up of the rivers is an antithesis to development blunderingly ignoring the ecology in the area.

Owing to temporal shift of the river course at a number of points along the river course between Farakka and Rajmahal (53 km upstream in Jharkhand) and the consequent changes in morphometric parameters, a detailed study leading to river bank erosion and flooding was conducted spanning over the period 1955 to 2005 from LANDSAT and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) images along the stretch (Thakur, 2014).  It was reported that the bank failure was mainly due to soil stratification of the river bank, presence of hard rocky area (Rajmahal), high load of sediment and difficulty of dredging and construction of Farakka Barrage itself as an obstruction to the natural river flow. The victims are mostly Manikchak and Kaliachak-II, Kaliachak-III and Ratua-I blocks of Malda district, with a loss of around 1,670 ha agricultural land since 1977 in these blocks alone (Thakur, 2014) as well as in several other areas in Murshidabad district resulting in high and frequent incidence of bank erosion, flooding of land, and consequently population migration from the villages (Banerjee, 1999, Rudra, 2004) leading to colossal looses of wealth in the Indian part as a ritual annually.

In Bangladesh it has been reported by Islam et al. (1999) that every year the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers transport 316 and 721 million tonnes of sediment, respectively. These high loads of suspended sediment reflect the very high rate of denudation in their drainage basins. The average mechanical denudation rate for the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins together is 365 mm 10³ yr⁻¹, depositing the load in the floodplains  and in the river channel beds in coastal areas. The increasing trend in siltation is one of the important factors for increasing trend in flood occurrence in Bangladesh (Banglapedia).

Loss of biodiversity

The floristic composition of whole of Sundarbans in the early twentieth century included 334 species and 245 genera in 75 families of plants including small to large trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses and herbs, with forest having had a glorious past. Thereafter no such detailed inventory has been made on flora and fauna species. Questions are often raised about the trend in the change of biodiversity due to reducing amount of flow over time in the lower delta, especially in Sundarbans. It has however been reported by Datta et al. (2014) on flora and faunal resources in Indian Sundarbans that tropical humid forest and mangroves are the major ecosystem types of the reserve. Mangrove species such as, Avicenniaalba, Bruguieragymnorrhiza, Ceriopstagal and Rhizophoraapiculata are the major species. Tropical semi-evergreen forest, agro-ecosystems, silviculture, pisiculture, prawn culture are the major habitats of the reserve. The area harbors a good number of rare and globally threatened animals. Fisheries play a significant role in the socio-economy of the communities of the Sundarbans. The aggregate Hilsa fish yield between 2001 and 2011 declined from 80,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes. Notable among the extinct species during the last 100 years are Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), water buffalo (Bubalusbubalis), swamp deer (Cervusduvauceli), hog deer (Axis porcinus) and marsh crocodile (Crocodiluspalustris). In Bangladesh (Amin, 2002), it is often said that most part of Sundarbans was originally well vegetated, with coastal mangroves backed up by swamp forests and a broad plain of tropical moist deciduous forest. However, more than 90% of the original vegetation has been cleared during the last 50 years or so. Now the ecosystem is changing rapidly and biodiversity is depleting fast with the extinction of some species of the forest. It now provides ideal habitats for a variety of unique plants and animals.

A number of factors have been identified for the loss of biodiversity over time in the whole delta. Though it is not possible to attribute quantitatively the loss to different factors, most of them are directly and indirectly linked with reduced water flow in conjunction with anthropogenic factors. 

Most of the data generated and shown by Bangladesh on different components and their effects on the ecology of the country due to diversion of water via Farakka appear to be over-estimated, since they were not always based on scientific analyses. On the other hand, India’s assessment due to Farakka withdrawal were based on certain assumptions held in pre-Farakka days, and therefore the analyses appear to be under-estimated.

Discharge of water and intrusion of salinity in Bangladesh: a critical analysis

The data reported by numerous workers in Bangladesh show however a common trend of lowering of discharge with consequent rise of salinity intrusion with time, although there appears to be lack of uniformity in the extent of such changes in the data suggesting the need for more critical analysis.

The lower Ganga delta in Bangladesh is much larger in area and possibly requires critical attention. Discharge data of the Ganga river for the period of 1970 to 2011 show that dry season (November–May) flow has decreased up to 82% after the construction of Farakka Barrage (Afroz and Rahman, 2013). In south-west Bangladesh thus salinity intrusion has increased gradually (Islam and Gnauck, 2008) after post-diversion period. According to Rahman and Asaduzzaman (2010) the salinity of the area has increased from 380 micromhos during the pre-diversion period in 1974 to about 29,500 micromhos in 1992. In addition, the salinity level of 500 micromhos during the post-diversion period engulfed about 12,000 square miles compared to 7,000 square miles during the pre-diversion period. It has also been found that 68 percent forest resources have reduced during the 1985-2000 period. Salinity affects severely biodiversity of the area. According to the forest department officials, about 75 lakh trees of Khulna and Satkhira have been affected with top 39 dying diseases. According to Parua (2009), who attempted to make a critical comparative analysis of the reports of the reports of the two countries, however commented that the projections made by Bangladesh in the ‘white paper’ on increase in salinity and fall in farm production was not always based on practical data and therefore arguable.

The damage due to withdrawal of the water flow at Farakka, receiving much reduced upstream water with time, has been so wide and multidimensional that it is difficult to estimate. However, careful estimates put it to the tune of 11 thousand crores of Taka (almost $2 billion USD). This does not include damage to the environment - Desai

Regarding navigation in Bangladesh the ‘special studies’ team of the GoI found that the affected routes were not the most important ones but conceded that Bangladesh did have an adverse effect and that India’s diversion of the Ganga water at Farakka did seriously affect inland navigation, suffering a loss of 10 million tonne-miles and the country did incur a loss of 3 million taka or US$5000.00 (in Feb, 2009 exchange rate), because of reduction of water depth in the Ganga (Parua, 2009).

The diversion had some adverse effects on the ground water table in Bangladesh. However, the ‘special studies’ team maintained that it was difficult to quantify the effect, as it depended on many other factors not considered (Parua, 2009).

Agriculture and industry in the Pussar estuary from Rupsa-Pussar region to that in the upper Gorai-Madhumati were indeed affected by increased salinity. Big industries at Khulna – paper mills, power stations, jute processing units, etc. were affected partly by saline water.

Future policy issues and concluding remark

The lower Ganga delta of both India (south of Farakka) and Bangladesh (south-west) share the same ecology and face threats due to dwindling water diversion via Farakka Barrage and deteriorating water quality of the river in the upstream at different places in India. This being a matter of common concern to both countries there is need for a holistic and focused attention for which the following suggestions are made with immediate effect to seek for a lasting solution.

·         There appears to be a need for revisiting the design of the Farakka Barrage, as well as the discharge and distribution norms of water in the interest of the two countries, keeping in view of the predicted flow of upstream Ganga water in long term perspectives, and if necessary, fresh norms to be decided.

·         Predicted flow of water through Ganga-Brahmaputra, both originating in Tibet, river system on account of retreat of glaciers and other parametric uncertainties due to climate change needs to be studied and refined with appropriate climate models in deciding the future norms for distribution of water via Farakka Barrage with as much precision as possible in different time scales. 

·         Need for fresh installation of hydro-electric power and irrigation projects in India must be given extremely careful consideration with stringent norms for discharge of river water in the upstream so that ecology of the area is not disturbed.

·         Past hydro-electric power and irrigation projects in the upstream already in commission need also to be reviewed in terms of the norms for discharge of water decided, and if necessary, to be revised, scientifically so that ecology of the area is not disturbed.

·         Provisions should be mandatory to make impact analysis of the discharge of water from different projects, be it hydro-electric power and irrigation projects or any others, on the ecology of the area for all past and future installations in India.

·         Strict administrative vigilance to be maintained to stop acts on unscrupulous diversion of water forthwith by private agencies in India.

·         Location specific integrated water development and management schemes at strategic points over the entire flow length in different time scales to be prepared and their methods of implementation be worked out, with adequate participation and vigilance from the local inhabitants, to ensure maintaining prescribed water quality throughout the year in India.

·         In India, in particular, impacts of the water flow at different strategic points into lower delta in respect of salinity in soil & water, flow rate, tidal amplitude and fluctuations, sedimentation/ hydrological parameters, navigation through rivers, ground water table depths and qualities, all important components of biodiversity, and any other related parameters should be taken up and monitored with a holistic plan, over minimum five year phases, through a central task force comprising of scientists, NGOs, government officials, local inhabitants, and the same placed in public domain. Similar programmes should be simultaneously planned and taken up by Bangladesh. A core team consisting of key members drawn from both countries should interact and monitor the progress once in each year and suggest for improvement with respect to targets fixed.       

      

It has to be remembered that the concerned lower Ganga delta of the two countries is largely coastal and therefore fragile in nature subject to the increasing vagaries due to climatic disasters beyond possibly anybody’s control to prevent. Additional factors originating from the deteriorating E-flows of the Ganga river network water contribute further to the woos of the inhabitants of the area. We believe, in conclusion, that there may be no short-cuts to improve the ecology for sustained livelihood of the inhabitants in this area across the two countries other than ensuring E-flows via Farakka Barrage, for which careful considerations may be given to the suggestions made above.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Sk. Golam Rasul, Program Assistant (Computer), KVK, Burdwan for his help towards data compilation and preparation of graphics.

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