Kushiyara water-sharing deal: Hope rekindled after all these years
The Rahimpur canal in Sylhet's Zakiganj upazila is only about three kilometres away from the source of the Surma and the Kushiyara rivers.
The 8km canal had been the lifeline of about 10,000 hectares of land, including several haors and beels in Zakiganj, Kanaighat and Beanibazar upazilas, for centuries when the water level in the Kushiyara was normal.
As the water level dropped significantly in the last couple of decades, the canal remains dried up during the dry season, hampering the cultivation of Boro paddy and winter vegetables.
To support the farmers by retaining water in the canal round the year, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) in 2010 had started the construction of a pump house on the Rahimpur canal and excavation of the water body and several other canals linked to it.
The works under the Upper Surma Kushiyara Project were completed in 2016 at a cost of Tk 65 crore.
The BWDB built a temporary dyke at the mouth of the canal to facilitate the construction, but the structure could not be removed after the completion of the project as the Indian authorities complained that no work could be carried out in no man's land.
On August 21 this year, a meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) agreed that the two countries would share the water of the Kushiyara.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on withdrawal of 153 cusec (cubic feet per second) of water from the Kushiyara by Bangladesh was signed yesterday in New Delhi as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now visiting the neighbouring country.
This is the first treaty signed between the two neighbours on sharing common river water since the inking of the Ganges river water-sharing agreement in 1996.
Earlier, India and Bangladesh finalised the Teesta water-sharing deal in 2010 and it was likely to be signed in 2011. But it could not be inked due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee.
Md Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, sub-assistant engineer of BWDB in Zakiganj, said many other canals are linked to the Rahimpur canal. "Once the irrigation project is made operational with the use of the pump house, more than 10,000 hectares of farmland will be benefited."
Md Sheikh Farid, agriculture extension officer in Zakiganj, said the land along the canals is fertile, which produces huge Aman crop.
"But due to irrigation problems, the land remained unused during the dry season over the years. As a result, the upazila faces a shortage of vegetables in winter."
If the irrigation issue is resolved, the farmers will be encouraged to cultivate vegetables in the dry season, he said, adding that at least one lakh people from Zakiganj and its adjacent areas will be benefited.
Visiting Rahimpur village and nearby areas on Friday, this correspondent came to know from farmers that they have been struggling to irrigate fields during the dry season for the last couple of decades. The news on the JRC meeting decision came to them as a blessing.
Ziaur Rahman, a resident of Rahimpur village, said they were happy to know that Bangladesh would be allowed to withdraw water from the Kushiyara after all these years.
Khalilur Rahman, an elderly farmer from Hasitola village on bank of Rahimpur canal, said the irrigation problem was affecting their farming gravely.
"We produce only Aman paddy. We cannot grow Boro paddy or any winter vegetables due to a lack of irrigation water."
He said production of fish in haors and beels will get a boost if water is available in the canal during the dry season.
Asif Ahmed, executive engineer of BWDB in Sylhet, said, "Parts of the canal needs to be excavated again, and some works have to be done at the pump house. We will soon start working on removing the dyke to make the project operational."