Ganges water treaty ‘flawed’, needs to be updated: Bangladesh expert

India always views the Ganga treaty as a bilateral treaty, but in lean months it receives a lot of snowmelt from Nepal’s Ghaghara, Gandaki and Koshi rivers; they also need to be monitored if we have to take care of the Ganges,” said Mr Chowdhury. Image for illustration only | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

DHAKA

The 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganges Water Treaty is “flawed” because it lacks a guarantee clause and does not take into account factors such as the impact of climate change, a leading Bangladeshi river water expert has said. Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), Manjur A. Chowdhury, former chairman of the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) in Bangladesh, said the Treaty would expire in December and should be replaced by a short-term contract of three years. This should be followed by a more researched tripartite treaty that will also bring in Nepal, as the nation’s rivers carry Himalayan snowmelt into the Ganges.

“The Ganga Water Treaty is three decades old and flawed because it does not include a guarantee clause. It also does not consider ecological flow and environmental flow. Moreover, the treaty does not include factors related to climate change. It simply divides the water in the river. This is not the right approach,” said Mr. Chowdhury, who believes the Ganga Water Treaty should include Nepal. A good contract, he added, should take into account the “health of the river” so that the Ganga is not over-exploited.

“Before the contract expires in December this year, we should ideally opt for a short-term contract of three years, during which we will conduct further research and negotiations to design a new and permanent Ganga water contract that will include technological and environmental developments,” said Mr. Chowdhury, speaking exclusively to The Hindu.

The contract expires in December

“India always looks at the Ganges treaty as a bilateral treaty, but in lean months it gets a lot of snowmelt from the Ghaghara, Gandaki and Koshi rivers in Nepal; they also need to be monitored if we have to take care of the Ganges,” Mr Chowdhury said. He argued that the Ganga Water Treaty required a new approach as 21st century environmental factors would have to be taken into account while drafting the text of the treaty. His comments came a day after he made similar remarks at a conclave in Dhaka calling for a new treaty. The Ganges Water Treaty will expire this December unless the two sides agree to renew the treaty for another three decades.

Earlier, former foreign minister Farooq Sobhan, who negotiated the treaty during Sheikh Hasina’s first term as prime minister in 1996, said the absence of an arbitration clause was a problem for the treaty. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sobhan further said that there are unfulfilled Indian promises related to the Ganga Water Treaty that will have to be reassessed. “India at that time had promised to build a dam on the Padma (Ganga) in Bangladesh territory but did not follow through. That was in return for not including an arbitration clause. But this dam was not built,” Mr Sobhan said. He added that Bangladesh had conducted surveys in the 1990s regarding the construction of the dam but had not received the necessary assistance. Discussions are underway in both India and Bangladesh to renew the Ganges Water Treaty, although important technical consultations are yet to take place before the treaty expires in December this year. Former JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha urged the Indian government not to renew the Ganga Water Treaty, saying the treaty with Bangladesh had “adversely affected” Bihar.

Subsequently, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar wrote to Mr. Jha on August 28: “We fully understand your concerns regarding the Ganga Water Treaty. I would like to inform you that inter-ministerial consultations involving relevant stakeholders have taken place under the leadership of the Jal Shakti Ministry to ensure broad consultation on the future of the treaty.”

(The reporter was in Dhaka as a guest of the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) to participate in the Bay of Bengal conversation.)

Published – 06 Oct 2026 22:49 IST