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OS5m Facing international and regional water governance challenges

abstract 380

Need for Codifying international law/obligations for ensuring environmental flow downstream: Lessons from Bangladesh.

Author(s): Miah M. Maniruzzaman
The author is a former Vice -Chancellor of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.Prior to that he was Professor at the department of Geography and environment of the same University.He has authored or edited several books on water issues of Bangla

Keyword(s): Floods,Droughts,IPCC,Ecosystem,Environmental flow,International Law

Article:

Poster:

Session: OS5m Facing international and regional water governance challenges

AbstractIntroduction: Bangladesh is criss-crossed by a network of nearly 250 rivers, fifty-four

of which have their sources in India, Nepal and China. In fact all the large and medium-sized rivers enter the country

from outside. The total inflow from outside is on the order of 1060 BCM while only 340 BCM is generated within

the country. Bangladesh and the countries around are located within the Monsoon Region. Naturally, the seasonal

distribution of rainfall is highly skewed. Bangladesh being in the lowermost reaches of the three big river systems of

Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna receives 92% of its flows from outside during the monsoon months causing floods,

sometimes of disastrous proportions .The situation is reversed during the dry winter months. To give specific

instances, while the annual maximum discharges of the Ganges range between 38200 and 73150 cumecs, the lowest

flow ever recorded is only 1180 cumecs. In the case of the Brahmaputra, the minimum and maximum ever recorded

are 3300 and 98000 cumecs (1998-flood). As mentioned earlier, floods sometimes cause havoc, particularly to

agriculture. But abnormally low flows combined with droughts, which are also frequent, do no less. IPCC suggests

that with passing years summers will have more disastrous floods while winters will be receiving lesser rainfall.

Agriculture, the mainstay of the country’s economy ensures food security to millions of Bangladeshis and also

provides employment to a larger chunk of the population. It is to be recognized that water is very important indeed

for the country’s economy, as it directly affects agriculture, fisheries and transportation. For Bangladesh it is also of

immense importance for preserving the entire eco-system of the country. Bangladesh is however faced with an

irreversible damage to its ecosystem because of ever-increasing withdrawal of water upstream leaving only trickles

that might come down the rivers from upstream. While rivers are drying up, its fisheries resources, the major sources

of protein for the people, are on the wane, its flora and fauna are dwindling, and the mangrove forest of the

Sundarbans, the abode of myriads of species of animals and plants of the saline ecosystem are gradually

disappearing. In fact the entire ecosystem is in danger of suffering irreversible damage. While this is so, water from

upstream is decreasing in quantity each year, not because of natural causes but because of human interference. This

is happening because there is no international law that binds an upper riparian to allow a minimum flow so that there

is no ecological or environmental disaster downstream.

Objective:
The objective is to assess the efficacy of

the current international legal mechanism for ensuring equitable quantity of water including environmental flow by the

upper riparian to the lower.

Methods:
Taking Bangladesh, a Monsoon country, as the example an analysis

of its present position in regard to water availability will be made partly with data already available and mostly newly

generated.

Results and Conclusion:
In regard to water availability Bangladesh suffers from the extreme

difficulties. One, its location in the Monsoon region with both annual and seasonal variability of rainfall. Two, its

position in the lowermost reaches of three big river systems leaving it very little option in the absence of a regional

framework for water governance. And Three, the spectre of climate change to its disadvantage looming

large.

One probable solution to this is codification of international convention/treaty/law which can be binding

on every country.

Events

The congress

Programme

Practical Infos

Need for Codifying international law/obligations for ensuring environmental flow downstream: Lessons from Bangladesh.