Angry over being left out of talks with Bangladesh Government on the renewal of water sharing agreements Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her party would build up a widespread movement if Bengal's water interests were sold out by the Centre.

She later told mediapersons in Kolkata that she had shot off a "strong letter" to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for keeping Bengal out of Indo-Bangladesh talks on water sharing. "I came to know that the Government of India is in the process of renewing the India-Bangladesh Farakka Treaty (1996)… for that they are holding deliberations. It is a treaty which delineates sharing of water between Bangladesh and India …"

"I have written a strong letter that such unilateral deliberations and discussions without consultation and the opinion of the state government is neither acceptable nor desirable."

 "The water sharing treaty is essentially a tripartite affair where Bengal is an important stakeholder … but they have left us out and gone ahead with it unanimously … selling out the interest of our State … we will not accept it … they have refused to appreciate how the Farakka (Ganga) water sharing agreement is hurting us … Bengal is losing acres of lands to erosion and flood … and still Bengal remains uncompensated for suffering the loss due to this agreement," she said.

The 1996 treaty is scheduled to be renewed in 2026.

On the alleged move by the Centre on sharing of waters of River Teesta she said, "having won the (parliamentary) seats in North Bengal they are thinking that they have received the mandate to sell out the interests of that region … but we will not allow that to happen … they are planning to sell out the water of Teesta River," adding, she said she too loved the people of Bangladesh but that did not mean that she would sacrifice the interests of the people on this side of the border.

"We too love them but when it comes to the interest of our own people we cannot sacrifice it … they are planning to sell out the water of Teesta River but how can we do that because there is no water in Teesta … particularly after the Sikkim Government constructed so many dams upstream … there is no question of giving away water like this … if they go ahead with their plans then we will resort to a widespread movement," Banerjee said.

Referring to the River Atreyi which flows through Balurghat district of North Bengal, Banerjee said, "the people of Balurghat have voted for BJP which is their right but my question is what the Centre is doing about the Atreyi River … Bangladesh has got a dam constructed by China on the Atreyi … we are not getting from this river now for which the people of Balurghat are suffering … I have repeatedly written to the Centre to do take up this issue but nothing has been done and now they are selling out the interests of Bengal by deciding to sell out water of other rivers … we will not let this happen."

Saugar Sengupta n Kolkata

Angry over being left out of talks with Bangladesh Government on the renewal of water sharing agreements Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her party would build up a widespread movement if Bengal's water interests were sold out by the Centre.

She later told mediapersons in Kolkata that she had shot off a "strong letter" to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for keeping Bengal out of Indo-Bangladesh talks on water sharing. "I came to know that the Government of India is in the process of renewing the India-Bangladesh Farakka Treaty (1996)… for that they are holding deliberations. It is a treaty which delineates sharing of water between Bangladesh and India …"

"I have written a strong letter that such unilateral deliberations and discussions without consultation and the opinion of the state government is neither acceptable nor desirable."

 "The water sharing treaty is essentially a tripartite affair where Bengal is an important stakeholder … but they have left us out and gone ahead with it unanimously … selling out the interest of our State … we will not accept it … they have refused to appreciate how the Farakka (Ganga) water sharing agreement is hurting us … Bengal is losing acres of lands to erosion and flood … and still Bengal remains uncompensated for suffering the loss due to this agreement," she said.

The 1996 treaty is scheduled to be renewed in 2026.

On the alleged move by the Centre on sharing of waters of River Teesta she said, "having won the (parliamentary) seats in North Bengal they are thinking that they have received the mandate to sell out the interests of that region … but we will not allow that to happen … they are planning to sell out the water of Teesta River," adding, she said she too loved the people of Bangladesh but that did not mean that she would sacrifice the interests of the people on this side of the border.

"We too love them but when it comes to the interest of our own people we cannot sacrifice it … they are planning to sell out the water of Teesta River but how can we do that because there is no water in Teesta … particularly after the Sikkim Government constructed so many dams upstream … there is no question of giving away water like this … if they go ahead with their plans then we will resort to a widespread movement," Banerjee said.

Referring to the River Atreyi which flows through Balurghat district of North Bengal, Banerjee said, "the people of Balurghat have voted for BJP which is their right but my question is what the Centre is doing about the Atreyi River … Bangladesh has got a dam constructed by China on the Atreyi … we are not getting from this river now for which the people of Balurghat are suffering … I have repeatedly written to the Centre to do take up this issue but nothing has been done and now they are selling out the interests of Bengal by deciding to sell out water of other rivers … we will not let this happen."