DHAKA, Jan 27: Bangladesh needs international mediation to dissuade India from going ahead with a project that proposes to link major rivers, Water Resources Minister Hafizuddin Ahmed said on Wednesday.
Dhaka fears the project would have a disastrous effect for Bangladesh as it shares with India some of the rivers included in New Delhi's plan.
"We would draw attention of the international community as we need international mediation to settle difference of opinion with India on their mega-project that aims to inter link trans-boundary rivers by withdrawing water unilaterally from common rivers," the minister told journalists after a meeting in Dhaka with a delegation of the Global Water Partnership, an international organization working on integrated water resources management.
"International organizations, including the Global Water Partnership, can play a role in minimizing disputes on sharing of water," Hafizuddin Ahmed told Peter Rogers and Simi Kamal, members of the GWP technical committee.
The World Bank had played a significant role in minimizing disputes on sharing of water between India and Pakistan and also involving countries of Southeast Asia, the minister told the team.
He said he had requested Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to raise the issue river inter linking project] at the forthcoming SAARC summit as the issue deserves attention of the top political leaders of South Asia.
The minister told the delegation that the Indian initiative would be another "death trap" for Bangladesh, even more deadly than Farakka, a massive barrage upstream of the river Padma.
The massive project is estimated to cost 112 billion dollars (at 1990 price levels) and envisages creation of 30 inter-basin links to transfer water from surplus to deficit basins and prevent surplus water from flowing into the sea.
