India and Bangladesh have agreed to form a new joint study group to assess the impact of the Ganges Barrage.
Bangladesh plans to build the barrage.
India has no objection to the Ganges Barrage project, but it wants to be sure that the project would not create any adverse impact on India, Indian water resources secretary UP Singh said.
He disclosed this after the Indo-Bangladesh water resources secretary-level meeting held on Thursday in Dhaka.
He said the terms of reference and the composition of the group will be finalised by September 30 this year.
Mentioning that building the barrage and dam on the rivers causes various problems, he said, even the Farakka Barrage is creating problems for some Indian states at present.
Responding to a question, he said India will not include any common river in its river-linking project without the consent of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh water resources secretary Kabir Bin Anwar said both the countries have decided to form a technical committee to carry forward negotiations on the water sharing of seven common rivers.
He said a technical committee will also be formed to mitigate the pollution in the common rivers.
About Teesta, the secretaries said that they were hopeful that a water-sharing deal for this river can be signed soon.
Mr Singh noted in India, water crisis is more acute than Bangladesh as it has 4.0 per cent shares in the world's water but its population accounts for 18 per cent of the global figure.
He also mentioned that both the countries stressed the need for basin-wise water management. Mr Anwar said that both the countries have agreed to hold a ministerial meeting of the Joint River Commission soon and that meeting will discuss the pending issues.
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