Editorial
JRC Thrust
Of the positive features contained in the joint communique issued at the end of a long overdue Indo-Bangla JRC meet on Sunday, we are particularly heartened by one deck-clearing element of the salubriously composite outcome. This is the one that sounds responsive to and avowedly remedial about Bangladesh's central concern over any recurrence of snag in the implementation of the Ganges water accord she had unfortunately experienced during the very first lean season after the inking of the treaty in December last. The Indian Water Resources Minister Sis Ram Ola put down the drastic shortfall in the availability of water to Bangladesh in a particular 10-day cycle to 'technical reasons' which are, by their very definition, eminently surmountable. The scientific committee being visualised 'to function immediately' should be able to steer clear of the bottlenecks in the accord's implementation, so that before the onset of the next dry reason all the spade-work will have been done for Bangladesh to receive the quanta of water apportioned for her. Bangladesh government which has negotiated the treaty with the Indian government pinning such high hopes on its implementation should be spared domestic political embarrassment for no better reason than a technical flaw occurring one time to many, just by default. The decision to maintain transparency at all stages of the implementation of the accord, especially at Farakka and Hardinge Bridge points, could not have come a daily earlier. While transparency at the official level is important by itself, we urge both the governments to make it a point to release monitoring reports on the implementation status cycle by cycle. This will greatly help avert any unnecessary public misgivings and spawning of pessimistic rumours about the future of the accord. The elaborate institutional preparations envisaged by the joint communique obviously mark a step forward in handling the long-pending issue of sharing the waters of Teesta and other common rivers meandering through the two countries. This, together with India's express support for our Ganges Barrage Project, augurs well for a noticeable spate in our entire system of rivers, now a bit of a myth when seen through the single key-hole of the Ganges water accord. Our thanks to the new Indian government under I K Gujral, a friend of Bangladesh, which has promptly responded to our request for an early JRC meeting.
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