B'desh wants India to implement water treaty

Bangladesh says between March 21 and 31, it got 25,309 cusecs of water in 2005, down from 28,344 cusec water in 2004.

Bangladesh says it is not getting its due share of water released by India through the Farakka barrage and accused New Delhi of withdrawing water from the Ganga to meet excess demand.

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Bangladesh Today quoted officials as saying that between March 21 and 31, Bangladesh got 25,309 cusecs of water in 2005, down from 28,344 cusec water in 2004 and 35,127 cusecs in 2003.

This year, it got only 15,700 cusecs in the same period.

Water Resources Minister Hafiz-uddin on Monday said: "We have sent a protest letter to our Indian counterpart."

Bangladesh wants the implementation of the Ganges Water Treaty, which was signed in December 1996 on the sharing of the Ganga between the two countries.

A ministry of water resources official said the flow of waters in the Ganga was very low as India was withdrawing waters from different points upstream to meet the water crisis they were facing in the dry season.