Bangladesh's New Padma Barrage Project

#GS-2 #Current Events #International #GS-3 #Geography #Resources #India and its Neighbourhood

Why in News

Bangladesh recently approved the construction of the Padma Barrage.
This massive river engineering project aims to improve water flow in the dry southwest region of the country.

The project will be built on the Padma River, which is the name of the Ganga River in Bangladesh, located in the Rajbari district.
The main goal is to solve the problem of water scarcity caused by lower water flows from India's Farakka Barrage upstream.
This 2.1-km-long barrage will include 78 spillway gates, navigation locks, fish passages, and a power plant to generate 113 MW of hydropower.
The barrage will hold about 2.9 billion cubic metres of water, which will help irrigate around 2.88 million hectares of farmland and benefit 37% of the country's land area.

Environmental experts warn that huge barrages can cause water-logging, unpredictable mud accumulation, and destroy local fish populations.
While South Asia is building more river barriers, Western countries are doing the opposite. For example, Europe removed 603 river barriers in 2025 to restore natural river flows.
The project highlights the ongoing tension between India and Bangladesh over sharing river waters, especially regarding the impact of the Farakka Barrage.

The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty signed in 1996 is a 30-year agreement between India and Bangladesh to share water during the dry season.
This treaty is set to expire in December 2026, which makes its review and renewal a critical issue for bilateral relations.

The Farakka Barrage is located on the Ganga River in the Murshidabad and Malda districts of West Bengal.
India built this barrage to divert water into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River system to keep the Kolkata Port clear for ships.
The system has a feeder canal that can carry 40,000 cusecs of water, starting upstream of the barrage and joining the Bhagirathi River 40 km downstream.