Introduction
Feni River rises from the hill ranges of the Indian state of Tripura at 23°20’N and 91°47’E, flows southwest marking the boundary with the Chittagong Hill Tracts, then flows west, separating Tripura from Chittagong up to Aliganj and then emerges out of the hills and passes through the plains dividing Chittagong from Noakhali before falling into the Bay of Bengal at 22°50’N and 91°27’E. Bangladesh claims that this river belongs to Bangladesh as it used to form the demarcation line between Chittagong, Noakhali and Tripura State of India. But since 1958, India is using the river, claiming its right up to the midstream, which created a dispute with the then East Pakistan.
The 116 km long river enters Bangladesh at Belchhari of Matiranga upazila of Khagrachhari district. If flows through Ramgarh (Khagrachhari), Fatikchhari (Chittagong) and then flows along the border of Chittagong (Mirsharai upazila) and Feni (Chhagalnaiya, Feni, Sonagazi upazilas) districts and after traversing 108 km, discharges into the Bay of Bengal near Sonagazi. 80.5 km of it up to Ramgarh is navigable throughout the year by small boats. During monsoon rains it remains full of water but with every heavy shower in its catchment area it becomes furious with rapid currents and whirling eddies at sharp turns. The Muhuri, also called Little Feni, from Noakhali district, falls into it near its mouth but it has no important affluent from Chittagong district. The river is gradually silting up due to reckless extraction of timber trees from the hill slopes and consequent heavy erosion of the hills is taking place.
India and Bangladesh share as many as 54 rivers and there’s only one agreement between them — Farakka Treaty – to share the waters of the Ganga River signed in December 1996. In this backdrop, the second MoU on transboundary river Feni needs to be welcomed. Incidentally, it is also the first MoU signed in South Asia in last two decades. In this MoU, Bangladesh has agreed to India’s withdrawal of 1.82 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Feni River, which will be used for the water supply of Sabroom town, presently reeling under water crisis.
The transboundary Feni River forms a border between India’s north-eastern Tripura state and Khagrachari district in Bangladesh. It originates in the South Tripura district, passes through Sabroom town on the Indian side, and after flowing in Bangladesh finally meets the Bay of Bengal. Sabroom in South Tripura, is only 18-20 kilometres from the Bay of Bengal, but it is a virtually a landlocked territory. In 2007, there was a thinking that an inland harbour could be built at Sabroom, connected to the sea through a canal, if Bangladesh allowed it. While most of the people prefer Waterside Poolscapes to avail the best pool construction services. On the other side, it is revealed that construction of harbour could reduce considerably the cost of transportation of goods from the rest of India to Tripura and the north-east of India. However, the idea had not been acted on through 2007.
The dispute on river Feni too is a legacy of India-Pakistan water sharing dispute and long-standing. It was taken up between India and Pakistan (before the independence of Bangladesh) in 1958 during a Secretary-level meeting in New Delhi. According to the Bangladeshi daily newspaper The Daily Star, water has long been drawn from the Feni River through small pumps on the Indian side.
In August 2019, India and Bangladesh held a water secretary-level meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) in Dhaka, where it was agreed to collect data and prepare water-sharing agreements for seven rivers — Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla, Dudhkumar, and Feni.
Friendship Bridge over Feni River
The idea of making a bridge first came up in 2006 and Bangladesh was sounded, which objected to it on the ground that being a transboundary river, it should be deliberated in the Joint River Commission. Later, a press release in India in 2007 stated – “Feni River has been added to its mandate in the 36th JRC meeting. A decision was taken in the meeting that the Ministers of Water Resources of both the countries would visit the sites where developmental works have been held up. This Joint Inspection of various locations of developmental and flood protection works on common rivers was held from September 14–21, 2006.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan also jumped in this dispute. A report of Associated Press of Pakistan, published on 25 September 2015 accused India –
“India is trying to withdraw water from Feni River for irrigation 14 projects in exchange of resolving erosion problem in Bangladesh side of this bordering river, sources in the WDB (Water Development Board) informed.
If Bangladesh does not allow implementing its projects centering Feni River, India may not continue the current talks on the erosion problem of the river. India wants Bangladesh should allow India to implement its 14 projects on Feni River. India in exchange will help Bangladesh resolve river erosion on the Bangladesh side.
Bangladeshi river experts apprehend, if Indian irrigation plans using the water of Feni River are implemented Uttar Fatikchhari, Shuvapur, Sonagazi and Mirrershari of Bangladesh will turn into desert. As a result, Bangladesh will have to abandon its largest Muhuri Irrigation Project and environment of the entire area will be totally ruined.
India now attaches a precondition that Bangladesh first should allow India to withdraw water from Feni River for its 14 irrigation projects. Then India will sit for talks how Bangladesh can implement its uncompleted bank-protection dam.”
However all these apprehensions raised by Pakistan turned out to be unfounded, as the events unfolded. Subsequently, when all the details were ironed out, the foundation stone for the bridge was officially laid jointly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June 2015. The cost of constructing the bridge, as well as the approach roads to it in both Bangladesh and India, will be borne by India and Tripura Public Works Department was appointed to execute the project. The cost of constructing approach roads in India and Bangladesh, both, will be borne by India.
For connecting Sabroom (in Tripura) to Ramgarh in Bangladesh, a 150-metre long, 4-lane bridge, across river Feni was conceived so that the landlocked border town of is connected to Ramgarh in Bangladesh. This bridge will directly open up access to Chittagong, Bangladesh’s largest seaport on the Bay of Bengal. The distance from Sabroom to Chittagong port is about 70 km, whereas distance between Sabroom and Agartala is 130 km.
Presently, India’s northeast is connected to the rest of the country through a narrow corridor in West Bengal known as the ‘Chicken’s Neck.’ A direct road to Chittagong port will accelerate India’s trade with southeast and east Asia. The bridge is expected to be completed by March 2020 at an estimated cost of Rs 73 crore.
Sabroom SEZ
Two weeks after Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announced the setting up of state’s first-ever Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Sabroom, it got approved by the Central government within a fortnight.
A notification in 2019 issued by Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Tripura, said – “A proposal for setting up of the Agro-Based (Broad Banded) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Paschim Jalefa, Sabroom was submitted to the Development Commissioner, Falta SEZ in June, 2019. The Department of Commerce (SEZ), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India gives in-principle approval for setting up of SEZ at Sabroom, South Tripura.” It will the first ever SEZ of Tripura, mainly to attract Bangladeshi investors. Investors at this situation can make use of dax kurs to know more about the challenges that are involved in investment.
As per the notification, the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDC) would develop the SEZ at an estimated cost of Rs 147 crore. The authorities are hoping to draw an investment of Rs 1,550 Crores, resulting in creation of 12,000 skilled jobs. Rubber based industries like tyres, surgical threads, textile and apparel industries, bamboo industries, agri-based processing industries are expected to be set up at the SEZ.
After its set up, 100 per cent Income Tax exemption would be provided on export income for SEZ units under Section 10 AA of the Income Tax Act for the first 5 years. Also, 50 per cent exemption would be provided for the next 5 years and 50 per cent of the ploughed back export profit for another 5 years.
Land Related Issue
Setting up of a SEZ was one of BJP’s poll promises ahead of the 2018 assembly election. As per the existing guidelines, it takes at least 25 acres of land to set up a Special Economic Zone, as per the existing guidelines. But the land available at Sabroom is less than the required quantum. The land currently available with the government at Paschim Jalefa village, where the SEZ would be set up, is 16.35 hectares. Initiatives were taken for acquiring 10.99 hectares additional land adjacent to the identified plot.
Anticipating strong opposition to land acquisition for SEZ, Chief Minister publicly announced that his government has sought relaxation on the land requirement and hopes to resolve the issue with support from NITI Ayog.
Simmering discontent in Bangladesh
In the National Assembly of Bangladesh, on 14 November 2019, opposition leaders demanded explanation from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that why Bangladesh is giving up its water of river Feni whereas India is not giving Bangladesh water from Teesta. She replied to a starred question from Jatiya Party MP, Moshiur Rahman Ranga (Rangpur 1), during her question answer session by saying the following –
“The total length of the Feni River sourced from the bordering areas of Tripura of India and Khagrachhari of Bangladesh is 140 km. Of them, 94 km are flowing along the borders of the two countries, while rest 46 km have fallen into the Bay of Bengal after being flown through Bangladesh.
She said Bangladesh and India agreed on lifting 1.82 cusec water from the Feni River for supplying of drinking water to the people of Sabroom town at the water resources secretary-level meeting held on January 4-5 in 2010. The issue of 1.82 cusec drinking water mentioned in the MoU will be adjusted later by including it during the signing of agreement on water sharing of Feni River.
She added – “Bangladesh and India agreed on lifting 1.82 cusec water from the Feni River for supplying of drinking water to the people of Sabroom town at the water resources secretary-level meeting held on January 4-5 in 2010. The Joint River Commission (JRC) in its 37th meeting held in March in 2010 expressed satisfaction over the decision,” she said.”
The premier said later a decision on setting up low lift pumps for supplying drinking water on seven conditions was taken in the technical-level meeting of the JRC in 2012. Sheikh Hasina said the MoU on river Feni is a temporary arrangement which will be implemented on seven conditions.
- The wideness of the launching approach will be 4.50 metres instead of 7.65 m
- Bangladesh could supply the pumps after finalization of their characteristics.
- The amount of water to be lifted from the Feni River will not exceed 1.82 cusec in any way
- Quantum of water withdrawn will be monitored regularly by the concerned chief engineers of the two countries who will examine the capacity of the pumps after their installation.
- The pipe through which the water will be supplied to Sabroom will not be more than one
- The concerned chief engineers of the two countries will jointly fix the position of the “intake well.”
- If erosion takes place on Bangladesh side of the Feni River opposite to the intake well, the Indian side will implement the river bank protection work of that part.”
Earlier on 9 October 2019, at a press conference at Ganabhaban replying to the charge that 230 acres of farming land will be adversely affected by providing water to India, she said – “Bangladesh will only supply a small volume of water from the Feni River to the Sabroom area of Tripura in India. It is inhumane to deny water when someone is asking for it. I do not understand why people were becoming frustrated over the water sharing deal.”
People’ Participation?
Such bilateral arrangements are concluded by the government on behalf of the people and there is no space to include representatives of affected communities, which face the consequences. At a time when governments are increasingly discarding their social welfare role, such omission attains grave proportions. For instance, the last bilateral agreement signed between India-Nepal on Mahakali is a glaring example. Public hearings were conducted at Champawat, Pithoragarh and Almora and in all the three places affected communities vociferously expressed their dissatisfaction with the upcoming Pancheshwar dam. But in the official reports, their opposition was not included or if a few points were mentioned they were highly diluted. The manner in which these public hearings were conducted was nothing short of a farce. The very conduct of public meetings, was gross violation of the guidelines for conducting public hearings. In the Feni MoU, there no space/forum for the affected communities on either side. The affected communities should be an integral part of such mechanisms right from negotiations to the culmination of the work. It is paramount for the protection of their livelihood, resource base, socio-cultural-religious traditions, house-hold economy and so on.
Environmental Concerns
The most significant environmental impact will be the excessive generation of waste from the plants established in SEZ, especially from the rubber-based industries. We can recall that in early nineties, proposed DuPont plant couldn’t be established in Goa, in spite of getting all the official clearances, owing to vociferous opposition of local people and environmentalists. Secondly, it will be almost impossible to stop the factories-generated waste entering in the Feni river, as despite all kinds of rules and regulation it has not met success anywhere in India and this will have disastrous implications for the riverine biota and communities and river-surrounding environs downstream. Thirdly, though the water is being taken in the name of drinking water supply to the town of Sabroom, but with the establishment of SEZ here, there will certainly be a sea-change in water use, as more and more water will be required by the industries in SEZ, and again the local populace will face a water crisis in future not so distant. Fourthly, it is generally observed that irrespective of sub-surface geology and nature of groundwater aquifer, the quality of underground water deteriorates substantially due to leaching and percolation of various chemicals through the soil which in turn also adversely affects the soil health.
A major part of the river flows through Bangladesh and the heavy metal pollution in sediment resources may pose serious threat to ecosystem and human health through food web. A study has been done on the surface sediment samples of 10 stations along the Feni River estuary were analyzed to profile the accumulation, sources and pollution levels of heavy metals. The results revealed that the average contents (μg g-1) of eight selected heavy metals followed the order of Mn (37.85) > Cr (35.28) > Ni (33.27) > Co (31.02) > Pb (6.47) > Ag (1.09) > As (0.85) > Hg (0.71), and the concentrations varied spatially and seasonally with relatively higher levels at upward stations and during the rainy season. According to sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), the sediment samples were heavily contaminated with Ag and Hg, and moderately with Co. Threshold effect concentration (TEC) and probable effect concentration (PEC) values indicated that the concentration of only Ni and Cr were likely to occasionally exhibit adverse effects on the ecosystem. Enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and contamination factor (CF) analyses revealed that Ag, Co and Hg were at moderate to high pollution levels and the rests (As, Cr, Ni, Pb and Mn) were at no to low pollution levels. Potential ecological risk index (PERI) also showed that Ag, Co and Hg were the most potential ecological risk factor being determined in this studied area. Correlation matrix combined with multivariate principal component analysis and cluster analysis suggest that Ag, Co, Ni and Hg originated from anthropogenic sources (agrochemicals, silver nanoparticles anti-microbial agent, silver plating), whereas As, Cr, Pb and Mn primarily originated from natural geological background. Thus the Feni river is already a fragile and vulnerable state and any pollution from SEZ will only exaggerate levels of pollutants in the river in Bangladesh.
Regarding the downstream impacts, Professor Ainun Nishat, a specialist, stated to ‘The Business Standard’ that he believed that “the agreed-upon withdrawal of water is very little in quantity.” He explained, “Since the river has a minimum flow of 794 cusecs of water even during the dry season, the amount of water agreed upon for withdrawal will not have much impact.” This statement was supported by another scholar, Professor AKM Saiful Islam of the Institute of Water and Flood, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) who noted that the agreed-upon water is indeed “little” and will not have much consequence over the Feni River.
But the major bone of contention remains disputed – creating a mechanism for accurate measurement of withdrawal from the river. Already there has been bad blood in the past over the withdrawal from Farakka between the two nations and it must be ensured that the same story is not repeated here too. In a nutshell, signing of this MoU raises hope that some kind of water-sharing mechanisms will be created for the remaining rivers too and will be implemented in word and spirit.
For the text of MOU see India-Bangladesh Joint Statement during Official Visit of Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India, 15 November 2019, Click Here
A map of the Feni River layout across the two borders