The year 2026 has put the button on Bangladesh's demise in India's hands. A major agreement between India and Bangladesh is set to expire in 2026. Bangladesh's situation has deteriorated so much that it has approached India.

The year 2026 will forever change the relationship between India and Bangladesh. Call it collaboration, the thing Bangladesh feared the most has begun on the very first day of 2026. In fact, with the start of January 1, 2026, a 365-day countdown to Bangladesh's destruction has begun. Call it the result of karma, that the Bangladesh that became a cancer for India in 2025, 2026 has put the button of destruction of that same Bangladesh in India's hands. In 2026, a major agreement between India and Bangladesh is going to end. Bangladesh's condition has become so bad that it has contacted India.

As soon as 2026 started, some of its people were sent to plead with India. Actually, in 1996, a Ganga water sharing treaty was signed between India and Bangladesh for 30 years. Now, at the end of 2026, 30 years are getting completed. This means that in 2026, it will again have to be decided how much water of the Ganga river will India give to Bangladesh. If it does, then how much will it give. Or it is possible that water may not be given at all. If this happens, Bangladesh will die of thirst. There is a demand in India that just as Pakistan's water has been stopped, Bangladesh's water should also be stopped.

What was this treaty?

The first agreement on the sharing of Ganges waters at Farakka was signed in Dhaka on November 7, 1977. Just months before the treaty, in March, Morarji Desai had assumed office as Prime Minister of India, while in April of that year, Major General Ziaur Rahman became President of Bangladesh. Then, when the second agreement was signed on December 12, 1996, Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda of India and Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh had been in office for only six months. Both leaders had assumed their positions in June.

Under which formula does India have to give how much water?

The barrage sends water to two places. One is the Ganges, which flows into Bangladesh. The other is Hubli. Under the agreement, if the water flow exceeds 75,000 cusecs, India will retain 45,000 cusecs and give the rest to Bangladesh. If the flow is less than 75,000 cusecs, or between 70 and 75,000 cusecs, India will retain 35,000 cusecs and give the rest to Bangladesh. And if the flow is less than 70 or even 73,000 cusecs, India will retain 3,000 cusecs and give the rest to its neighbor. Overall, India needs at least 30 to 35,000 cusecs of water; it will retain that and give the rest to Bangladesh, which is why this barrage was built.

 PC:Prabha Sakshi