DHAKA, April 4: Leaders of the International Farakka Committee, a body of expatriate Bangladeshis, on Monday demanded that a regional river commission comprising five south Asian countries be formed to ensure proper water sharing of all international rivers flowing through the region. “As the rivers are interconnected with other nations, Bangladesh needs to be linked with those countries through the proposed commission to get its due share of water,” the vice-president of the committee, SI Khan, told a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

The proposed commission would help settle water-related disputes, he said, suggesting that Bangladesh, India, China, Nepal, and Bhutan should be the members of the commission to be backed by the United Nations.

The committee members demanded of India to stop all river-linking projects, including the Brahmaputra and Ganges ones. ”If India goes ahead with the river-linking project, Bangladesh may turn into a desert like Sahara,” they noted.