{"id":20021952,"date":"2017-04-14T14:09:46","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T08:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=21952"},"modified":"2026-05-29T16:45:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:45:48","slug":"teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/","title":{"rendered":"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">The big disappointment during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s visit to India last weekend was the failure to finalise the Teesta water sharing agreement between the two countries. Data available with<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/\">thethirdpole.net<\/a><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>shows this was because the river now has only one-sixteenth of the water needed for agriculture by the two countries during the dry season, from February to May. Little wonder that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed the agreement tooth and nail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">There is no water<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">In a recently prepared internal report on the Teesta, seen&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/\">thethirdpole.net<\/a>, the West Bengal government&nbsp;states,&nbsp;\u201cTwo barrages on Teesta, at about 100 km from each other, in India and Bangladesh were planned to cater [to] irrigation in more than 16 lakh [1.6 million] hectares of land together; around 9.2 lakh [920,000] hectares in [the] state of West Bengal in India and 7.5 lakh [750,000] hectares in Bangladesh. According to a rough calculation, such a scale of irrigation for boro crop (dry season paddy) will require around 1600 cumec (cubic metre per second) of water; while through much of the dry period the river hardly has 100 cumec of water, i.e. one sixteenth of total water requirement in [the] two countries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">India has a barrage on the Teesta at Gojoldoba at Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, a little upstream of the point where the river enters Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has a barrage at Doani in Lalmonirhat district, before the Teesta joins the Brahmaputra.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">In recent years, water volume in the Teesta has gone below the 100 cumec level in peak summer, April and May.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Recognising the lack of adequate water in the Teesta, a committee of the West Bengal government under Indevar Pandey, principal secretary of the public works department, has recently decided that the state will irrigate only 52,000 hectares with the river\u2019s water, a reduction over 90% from the original plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">The data explains Banerjee\u2019s reluctance to part with any water from the Teesta despite pressure from prime ministers of both India and Bangladesh. \u201cWhere is the water in the Teesta?\u201d asked the chief minister whenever faced with Bangladesh\u2019s claim for an equitable share of Teesta water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Key reason \u2013 planning failure<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Barrages are built to hold back water for the dry season. The West Bengal government report says there is no water in them now, because the water has been released at the wrong time by authorities in both India and Bangladesh.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">\u201cWhile the barrages were planned primarily to provide supplementary irrigation support to aman paddy cultivation during monsoon, subsequently both barrages were used to support boro cultivation during dry season, when there is minimum water in [the] river,\u201d says the report.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">The fact that the barrages do not have any water reservoir facility, also compels authorities to release most of the monsoon water rather than keep it back for dry seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">All this makes a water sharing treaty even more difficult, though Bangladesh has agreed to a 50:50 split instead of seeking a guaranteed volume of water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">In Bangladesh, a recent study &nbsp;conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Centre for Agri-research and Sustainable Environment &amp; Entrepreneurship Development (CASEED) also talked about the shift &nbsp;from monsoon to dry paddy&nbsp;cultivation in the region watered by the Teesta. \u201cA few years ago, the aman rice crop used to be cultivated on 80% of the land but the trend has changed now,\u201d said an expert involved in the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">The Sikkim effect<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Noted river expert Kalyan Rudra pointed out another big problem \u2013 the large number of hydroelectric projects already commissioned&nbsp;or under construction in Sikkim state along the Teesta, upstream of West Bengal. These are run-of-the-river projects, so they are not supposed to hold back water. But, Rudra said, \u201cThough these hydropower units release the water, but the timing is not coordinated with the peak time need of farmers.\u201d Large stretches of the river are being cut off due to this poor management, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Still, Bangladesh needs water<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Experts in Bangladesh are aware of these problems. Still, they feel, India should release some water from the Teesta during the dry season. \u201cEvery country downstream has the right over water as well and despite reduced water volume in summer West Bengal should not oppose release of some water to Bangladesh,\u201d Ainun Nishat, noted river expert and with<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bracu.ac.bd\/\">BRAC University<\/a><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>in Bangladesh, told<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/\">thethirdpole.net<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Nishat pointed out that till 2011, when Mamata Banerjee came to power in West Bengal, Bangladesh used to receive some water from the Teesta all through the year. Now it reportedly receives only about 20 cumec of water in peak dry season, mainly through a tributary called Dhorla, which joins the Teesta downstream of the Gojoldoba barrage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Need for cooperation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">While the West Bengal government report has enabled Banerjee to stymie the India Bangladesh pact for now, even officials of the West Bengal government are not happy with the current state of affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">They point out that drying up of a transboundary river just upstream of an international border is contrary to global norms. \u201cWhat will happen if tomorrow Bhutan or Nepal refuses to part with upstream water?\u201d asked a senior official in the state government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">History of agreement<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">In July 1983, there was a temporary agreement between India and Bangladesh on the Teesta. It gave 39% of the water to India and 36% to Bangladesh, while the rest was to flow free. The trouble was that this was only a two-year agreement. After that, gradual decline in water flow, particularly in summer, has complicated the situation. Subsequent agreement drafts have suggested similar shares, but they remain drafts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Teesta the bargaining tool<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Of course, the political tussle between India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee\u2019s Trinamool Congress complicates matters. \u201cI cannot say anything as the chief minister is looking into the issue herself,\u201d said Rajib Banerjee, irrigation minister of West Bengal, when asked about the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">This tussle predates Modi\u2019s appointment as Prime Minister. It started in 2011 when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had almost finalised a Teesta water sharing agreement on the eve of a visit to Dhaka, and wanted to take Banerjee along. The Chief Minister pulled out of the trip at the last moment and stymied the pact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">In 2015, Banerjee did go to Dhaka along with Modi, and indicated that progress had been made on the Teesta agreement. But now, the BJP-Trinamool relationship is at a low, and the effect was apparent during Sheikh Hasina\u2019s trip.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Water from other rivers?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">However, Banerjee knows she cannot keep denying water to Bangladesh, a country that shares 57 rivers with India. \u201cI am all for giving water to Bangladesh but not from the Teesta, as it is the lifeline of north Bengal and does not have enough water to be shared with Bangladesh. Instead I proposed to both Prime Ministers to undertake a study whether water can be given to Bangladesh from other rivers from the region like Torsa, Jaldhaka or Raidak,\u201d she said last weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">But neither Dhaka nor New Delhi seems to have taken this idea seriously. River experts also wonder how this is supposed to work. \u201cThese rivers are tributaries of the Brahmaputra. Rerouting their water to the Teesta command area in Bangladesh\u2019s will be a herculean task, if not an impossible one,\u201d said a senior official in the West Bengal government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Despite last weekend\u2019s setback, Hasina and Modi expressed confidence that a Teesta deal will be reached soon. Experts say they may be basing their confidence on a part of India\u2019s river interlinking scheme, under which water from the Manas river (a tributary of the Brahmaputra in Assam) is planned to be transferred to the Ganga via the Sankosh and Teesta rivers. \u201cThere is already a proposal of Manas\u2013Sankosh\u2013Teesta interlinking under the national water transfer project and necessary quantity of water may be given to Bangladesh by diverting water from Manas and Sankosh through link canal to Teesta; which will solve the problem of providing adequate water to Bangladesh during dry months,\u201d said Nilanjan Ghosh, an ecological economist and a river analyst associated with the Observer Research Foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-family: 'Georgia',serif;color: #333333\">Ghosh however added that execution of such a plan would be ecologically disastrous, unsustainable for river health and detrimental to ecosystem services and livelihoods in the long run. \u201cExecution of such a plan will require cutting canals through forest areas which may be extremely damaging,\u201d Rudra pointed out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000107,"featured_media":60135429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039903],"tags":[20000005,50040325,50040707,607],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000116,20000111],"class_list":["post-20021952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water","tag-ganga","tag-river-basins","tag-the-third-pole","tag-water-scarcity","country-bangladesh","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-14T08:39:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T15:45:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jayanta Basu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jayanta Basu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/343d1e847a774cfee7ba02ab7ce90d04\"},\"headline\":\"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-14T08:39:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-29T15:45:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\"},\"wordCount\":1425,\"commentCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ganga\",\"River basins\",\"The Third Pole\",\"Water scarcity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Water\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\",\"name\":\"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-14T08:39:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-29T15:45:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"2T710P8 Aerial view of Teesta river valley with adjacent National Highway road at Darjeeling district of India\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/343d1e847a774cfee7ba02ab7ce90d04\",\"name\":\"Jayanta Basu\",\"description\":\"Jayanta Basu is a Kolkata-based environment and climate correspondent and columnist. He has regularly covered international climate change meetings since 2009, and has led successfully a number of landmark environmental campaigns in eastern India. He is also a faculty member of the University of Calcutta. Basu is a recipient of prestigious Paryawaran Sarankshak Samman 2020 award conferred by Tarun Bharat Sangh.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/jayanta-basu\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/jayanta-basu\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed | Dialogue Earth","description":"Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed","og_description":"Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2017-04-14T08:39:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-29T15:45:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jayanta Basu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/"},"author":{"name":"Jayanta Basu","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/343d1e847a774cfee7ba02ab7ce90d04"},"headline":"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed","datePublished":"2017-04-14T08:39:46+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-29T15:45:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/"},"wordCount":1425,"commentCount":5,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg","keywords":["Ganga","River basins","The Third Pole","Water scarcity"],"articleSection":["Water"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/","name":"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg","datePublished":"2017-04-14T08:39:46+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-29T15:45:48+00:00","description":"Amid all the talk of failure of the Teesta water sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India last weekend, few mentioned that the river has hardly any water now","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Aerial-view-of-Teesta-river-valley_Roop-Dey_Alamy_2T710P8-1200px-copy.jpeg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"2T710P8 Aerial view of Teesta river valley with adjacent National Highway road at Darjeeling district of India"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/teesta-has-one-sixteenth-of-water-needed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Teesta has one-sixteenth of water needed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/343d1e847a774cfee7ba02ab7ce90d04","name":"Jayanta Basu","description":"Jayanta Basu is a Kolkata-based environment and climate correspondent and columnist. He has regularly covered international climate change meetings since 2009, and has led successfully a number of landmark environmental campaigns in eastern India. He is also a faculty member of the University of Calcutta. Basu is a recipient of prestigious Paryawaran Sarankshak Samman 2020 award conferred by Tarun Bharat Sangh.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/jayanta-basu\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/jayanta-basu\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20021952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20000107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20021952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20021952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60135452,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20021952\/revisions\/60135452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60135429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20021952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20021952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20021952"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=20021952"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=20021952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}