Centre refutes Mamata Banerjee's claim on Ganga Water Treaty review

West Bengal was consulted on the review of the Ganga Water Treaty with Bangladesh, sources at the Centre said here on Monday, dismissing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that the state was kept out of the process.

The sources said the joint secretary (works) in the irrigation and waterways department of the West Bengal government conveyed in April the state's total demand for the next 30 years from the stretch downstream of the Farakka Barrage.

India and Bangladesh signed the Ganga Water Treaty in 1996. The 30-year treaty is due to expire in 2026 but may be extended by mutual agreement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday that India and Bangladesh will begin technical-level talks for the renewal of the 1996 treaty.

In a letter to Modi, Banerjee had claimed that the decision to start talks for the renewal of the treaty was "unilateral" and urged the prime minister not to hold any such discussion with Bangladesh without involving the West Bengal government.

The sources in the Union government said the Centre had, on July 24 last year, sought a nominee of the West Bengal government in the committee for carrying out an "Internal Review of the India-Bangladesh Treaty of 1996 on Sharing of the Ganga/Ganges Waters at Farakka".

They said the West Bengal government had, on August 25 last year, conveyed the nomination of the chief engineer (design and research) in the irrigation and waterways directorate to the committee.