{"id":63274,"date":"2026-01-02T21:02:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=63274"},"modified":"2026-01-03T11:51:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T06:21:25","slug":"ganges-treaty-water-measurements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-01-2026\/ganges-treaty-water-measurements","title":{"rendered":"Joint Water Measurements By India &amp; Bangladesh as Ganges Treaty Nears Expiry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/International Relations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-12-2025\/india-bangladesh-relations-mea\"><strong>India and Bangladesh<\/strong><\/a> have initiated a <strong>joint water measurement initiative<\/strong> on the Ganga and Padma rivers as the <strong>Ganges Water Sharing Treaty<\/strong> enters its final year before expiry in <strong>December 2026<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, 1996<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Ganges Water Sharing Treaty<\/strong>, signed on <strong>12 December 1996 <\/strong>between India and Bangladesh, governs the sharing of Ganges waters at the <strong>Farakka Barrage<\/strong>, located in West Bengal, about 18 km upstream of the Bangladesh border.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The treaty marked a major diplomatic breakthrough, ending decades of tension over Ganges water sharing that had strained bilateral relations since Bangladesh\u2019s independence in 1971.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Origins of the Ganges Water Dispute<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Construction of Farakka Barrage (1975):<\/strong> India completed the Farakka Barrage in 1975 to divert water into the Hooghly River.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Purpose was to flush out silt &amp; improve navigability of the Kolkata Port.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bangladesh\u2019s Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a lower riparian state, Bangladesh argued that reduced downstream flows:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Harmed agriculture and fisheries<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Disrupted river navigation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased salinity intrusion in coastal areas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Threatened the Sundarbans ecosystem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This disagreement became one of South Asia\u2019s most persistent transboundary water disputes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Steps Taken<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Five-year Ganges Agreement (<em>Interim<\/em>), 1977<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Memoranda of Understanding on Flow Sharing in 1982 &amp; 1985<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Teesta Water Sharing Agreement: <\/em>2011; Proposed but unsigned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Criticism and Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bangladesh\u2019s Concerns:<\/strong> insufficient flows during lean months, salinity intrusion, and loss of fish habitats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Concerns:<\/strong> Rising water demand in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Change Impacts:<\/strong> Altered monsoon patterns and glacier melt threaten future flow reliability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>About Ganga River<\/strong><br><br>&#8211; <strong>Origin<\/strong>: Gangotri Glacier in Uttarakhand; <strong>Length:<\/strong> Approximately 2,525 km.<br>&#8211; <strong>Basin Area: <\/strong>Covers about 8,61,452 sq. km in India, nearly <strong>27% of India\u2019s landmass<\/strong> over 11 Indian states.<br>a. It supports <strong>over 45% of India\u2019s population.<\/strong><br>b. The <strong>Ganga River Basin<\/strong> is the <strong>second most water-stressed basin in India<\/strong>, despite receiving 35.5% of the total water input in terms of precipitation, following the Sabarmati Basin.<br>&#8211; <strong>States Covered: <\/strong>Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and parts of several others.<br>&#8211; <strong>Key Tributaries: <\/strong>Yamuna, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, and Son among others.<br>a. The <strong>Ganga enters as the Padma River <\/strong>into <strong>Bangladesh below the Farakka Barrage<\/strong>, eventually <strong>merging with the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers <\/strong>before <strong>emptying into the Bay of Bengal.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Delta<\/strong>: Forms the <strong>world\u2019s largest delta<\/strong>, the <strong>Sundarbans<\/strong>, shared by India and Bangladesh.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneycontrol.com\/news\/india\/india-bangladesh-begin-joint-water-measurements-as-ganges-water-sharing-treaty-enters-final-year-13753043.html\/amp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: Money Control<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India and Bangladesh have initiated a joint water measurement initiative on the Ganga and Padma rivers as the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty enters its final year before expiry in December 2026.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, 1996 <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, signed on 12 December 1996 between India and Bangladesh, governs the sharing of Ganges waters at the Farakka Barrage, located in West Bengal, about 18 km upstream of the Bangladesh border. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The treaty marked a major diplomatic breakthrough, ending decades of tension over Ganges water sharing that had strained bilateral relations since Bangladesh\u2019s independence in 1971. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-01-2026\/ganges-treaty-water-measurements\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63274"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63303,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63274\/revisions\/63303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}