Mamata appoints panel to bridge Teesta dispute

Amidst speculation that the Teesta water sharing problem would be solved soon, Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, on Wednesday said that the state has appointed a committee 20 days back under water expert Kalyan Rudra, to find a solution to the issue.

Banerjee made the announcement after meeting Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday, where the two discussed possible solutions to the Teesta issue, which has dogged relationships between India and Bangladesh for decades now.

“I understand that they have a claim to the water, but we cannot neglect the situation in Sikkim and North Bengal. I am not, however an expert. Hence we have appointed a committee under river expert Kalyan Rudra to come up with a solution,” Banerjee said.

Interestingly, Banerjee had refused to accompany the Prime Minister to Bangladesh in September. As a result, the signing of the Teesta Agreement had to be postponed.

Moni, incidentally had met Indian external affairs minister S M Krishna at the Asean summit in Bali, Indonesia as well.

On Wednesday, she said that while she and Banerjee had discussed the issue, the solution to the problem itself would be arrived after discussions at a bilateral level.

“We discussed the Teesta water sharing issue at length. However, Teesta is an international problem and will be discussed again at the level of the two countries. I hopeful of a solution,” Moni told mediapersons here. Banerjee also said that the two sides will talk again once the report is submitted. Interestingly, Kalyan Rudra is attached to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board and was a professor of geography at the Calcutta University.

Also, the Bangladeshi foreign minister extended an invitation to Mamata Banerjee to visit the country in December or March.

Banerjee said that she has received the invitation and would consider it. Banerjee also announced the formation of a joint task force between Bangladesh and West Bengal, to review and work on the business of entertainment, given the fact that common language and cultural ties bind the two historically.