Bangladesh Greenlights Padma Barrage Project to Counter India's Water Management

Bangladesh has taken a landmark step by approving a significant project to construct a barrage on the Padma River. This move is aimed at countering the adverse impacts of India's Farakka Barrage, situated upstream.

With the Indo-Bangladesh Ganges Water Sharing Treaty nearing its December expiry, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, sanctioned the first phase of the Padma Barrage at an estimated cost of Tk 34,497.25 crore, equivalent to approximately USD 280 million.

This initiative, as explained by Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, is designed to store water on the Bangladeshi side and is considered an issue of national interest, independent of negotiations with India. Discussions on the Ganges waters, however, continue between both countries, despite the project's independence from these talks.

(With inputs from agencies.)