Amit Hasan Rahin tends to his family’s farmland at Zakiganj’s Barathakuri Union in Sylhet. He only grows Aman rice across almost 4.66 hectares of land in a single season.
Rahin is unable to grow any crops in winter, when it is dry, let alone Boro paddy.
Whatever crops farmers in the area could grow in dry seasons stopped being fruitful in 2011 when a dam was raised at the mouth of the Rahimpur canal as part of a pump construction project to draw water from the Kushiyara River.
Even after the construction was completed at Zakiganj Upazila’s Sharifganj, India’s Border Security Force, or BSF, prevented Bangladesh from removing the dam to let the river stream in.
Bangladesh had plans to drain water into the area in Zakiganj from the Kushiyara River through the canal during dry seasons. But the dam put paid to all plans to expand farming across land spanning several upazilas in Sylhet.
The recent finalisation of the Kushiyara water-sharing deal with India delivers hope to Rahin and other farmers.
“We will at least be able to cultivate Boro if we get water, maybe some other vegetables too,” he said.
The Kushiyara River flows across the border of Bangladesh and India as a branch of the Barak River, which originates from the northern hills of Assam. It flows along the Nagaland-Manipur border through hilly terrains and then moves southward before entering Bangladesh on the west of Cachar’s Silchar. Near the northeastern border of Sylhet’s Zakiganj, the stream splits to flow north past Sylhet city as the Surma while the Kushiyara proceeds south. The Kushiyara flows 161 km past Zakiganj along the border with India. It unites with the Surma again at Habiganj’s Ajmiriganj Upazila to form the Kalni and streams southwards to meet with the Dhanu River in Bhairab to become the Meghna.
The pump house in Sharifganj is built within 300m of the Kushiyara’s banks on the Rahimpur canal. Rahin and his family live a kilometre away from there at Hasitala village.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed a memorandum of understanding with India during her trip to India earlier this month to withdraw 153 cusecs of water from the Kushiyara River.
“The MoU will help irrigate 5,000 hectares of land through the Rahimpur canal,” she said after returning to the country.
She also said 6,000 hectares of cropland can be irrigated at five upazilas on the banks of the Kushiyara.
Mohammad Khayer Uddin Mollah, chief of the Sylhet unit of the Department of Agricultural Extension, said: “Any agreements that create irrigation opportunities are important to this region.”
“Water from canals or rivers is needed here to farm during the dry seasons as underground water contains too much iron. Underground water is also impossible to extract in many places due to the presence of stone. More water will mean more agricultural production.”
THE DAM ISSUE
The Water Development Board began digging the Rahimpur canal and building the pump house in 2010. Officials said prior to that, the canal could hold some water. But the initiation of the project completely shut off the source in 2011.
SM Shahidul Islam, the chief engineer of the Water Development Board’s Sylhet regional office, said the Rahimpur canal was dug under the Surma-Kushiyara Project and the pump house was built in 2016.
“A cross dam was raised at the mouth of the canal to prevent floodwaters from hindering the construction of the pump house,” he said. “When we tried to dismantle the dam after pump construction had been completed, the BSF said it was built in no man's land and thus cannot be lifted.”
Reflecting on the benefits of the water-sharing deal, he said: “The farmers only grew Aman before, not Boro. The water will flow to different areas, including Zakiganj, Kanaighat, Bianibazar, Gopalganj and Fenchuganj.”
Iftekhar Ahmed, a resident of Amalsid village which is 2 km away from Sharifganj pump house, plans to farm Boro and other crops on almost 2.67 hectares of land after getting water from Kushiyara in the dry seasons.
He said: “We will begin farming Boro. Sugarcane, watermelons and potatoes also grow well here. We’ll also be able to grow more winter vegetables.”
NEIGHBOURS SHARING WATER
Malik Fida A Khan, a member of the technical committee of the Joint River Commission, said Bangladesh will withdraw water under the 15-year MoU for seven months every year.
“This means we’ll be able to irrigate 5,000 hectares of farmland from the Kushiyara using the pump during the dry seasons,” he said and mentioned that it was about 10-15 percent of the supply source.
India will also draw 153 cusecs of water from the Kushiyara, he added.
The governments of both countries consider the Kushiyara agreement as the biggest success of Hasina’s trip to India, though the Teesta water distribution deal remains pending after 12 years.
However, river expert Dr Khalequzzaman thinks 153 cusecs is “very little” compared to the 5,295-17,650 cusecs of water that flows through the river from November to February.
“Bangladesh requiring India’s permission to draw such a small amount of water from a river inside the country is beyond reasoning and ethics.”
Khalequzzaman, a professor at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, added that the MoU made no sense as it was signed for the portion of the river streaming inside Bangladesh.
Localities were established across several kilometres of low-lying area in no man’s land in Rahimpur, where the canal’s water has been cut off from Bangladesh. It was said that this is the reason for Bangladesh needing permission from its neighbour, according to Khalequzzaman.
“The Kushiyara’s flow would’ve been greater during the dry seasons if the canal was allowed to flow.”
Malik Fida, who is the executive director (in-charge) of the Centre for Environmental and Geographical Information Services, or CEGIS, thinks the Kushiyara agreement is the biggest “milestone achievement” of the last 25 years.
“We signed the Ganges treaty in 1996. Now we’ve signed another such agreement in 2022.”
Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, the immediate-past Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, believes the Kushiyara deal plays an important role in resuming bilateral river water distribution talks.
Citing a “long-time concern” over India not sharing water, Doraiswami thinks the Kushiyara deal will play a role in changing people’s views.
The Water Development Board’s Shahidul expects to draw out water from the river before the Boro season in November.
“The BSF is yet to be officially informed at the field level. We are in contact. It will happen as soon as they are ready.”