Bhubanesh Kumar Pradhan, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Nepal
Nepal had entered into agreement with India on implementation of 4 Projects.
- Mahakali Agreement (1920)
- Koshi Agreement (1954)
- Gandak Agreement (1959)
- Mahakali Treaty (1996)
Of these, Mahakali Treaty (1996) could not make much head-way due to untenable demand raised by the Indian side regarding use of water in the Pancheshwar Multi-purpose Project.
Almost all water was used for the benefit of India in Mahakali, Koshi and Gandak Agreements with some fringe benefit to Nepal.
Mahakali Agreement 1920:
Mahakali Agreement was signed with the British India on August 23, 1920 for the construction of Sharada Barrage across Mahakali River to irrigate 396,000 ha of land in UP, India.
The Agreement quotes that the Nepal Government will have a right for a supply of 460 cusecs and, provided the surplus is available, for a supply up to 1000 cusecs when cultivation grows at any future time from the Sharada Canal Head Work during the Kharif i.e. from 15th May to 15th October, and of 150 cusecs during Rabi i.e. from 15 October to 15 May the canal head being in the latter period alternately closed and opened for 10 days at a time running 300 cusecs whenever the canal is open.
This water was not used till 1970 as almost all land then was covered by forest. It was 50 years after the Agreement that the Mahakali River water was utilized in Nepal with the implementation of the Mahakali Irrigation Project to irrigate 11,000 ha of land in the Kanchanpur district. Another feature of this Agreement was that 4093.88 Acre of land in Nepal adjoining the Mahakali River was swapped with India. Nepal got in exchange land from Lucknow, Bahraich and Gonda from the border area.
Koshi Agreement 1954:
Koshi Agreement was signed with India on April 25, 1954. India built the Koshi Barrage across the Koshi River. The Koshi Eastern Main Canal and the Koshi Western Main Canal offtaking from the Barrage irrigate 612,500 ha of land and 356,610 ha of land respectively in the State of Bihar, India.
Under the Agreement, Nepal got an inundation Canal from the left bank of Koshi at Chatra, 20 Km upstream of Koshi Barrage with a side intake. It has a capacity to carry 1600 cusecs of water to irrigate 66,000 ha of land in the Sunsari and Morang districts. At the time of handover in 1977, the Canal was in the state of irrigating 20,000 ha only. Later, Nepal had to incur a substantial cost to fully recover the benefit from this inundation canal with IDA assistance from the World Bank under the Sunsari Morang Irrigation Project.
Later under the separate arrangement in West Koshi Main Canal, Nepal got a pump canal to irrigate 10,000 ha of land and direct gravity irrigation to 10,000 ha of land in the Saptari district from the Koshi Western Main Canal.
In total, this amounts to 86,000 ha of land from the Koshi Project under the Agreement. Nepal also gets some hydro-energy though not much at the rebated price under the Koshi Agreement.
Gandak Agreement 1959:
Gandak Agreement was signed on December 4, 1959. India built the Gandak Barrage across the Gandak (Narayani) River. The Gandak Eastern Main Canal and the Gandak Western Main Canal offtaking from the Barrage irrigate 920,520 ha of land and 930,000 ha of respectively in the State of UP, India.
Under the Agreement, Nepal got 625 cusecs of water from the Don Branch Canal, a branch from the Gandak Eastern Main Canal which was raised to 850 cusecs after negotiation with GOI. But this was never made available as agreed on one pretext or other.
It is possible to irrigate 28,000 ha of land in the districts of Bara and Parsa only leaving out the Rautahat district. The irrigation system was later refurbished under the Narayani Zone Irrigation Development Project with the IDA assistance from the World Bank. Nepal got 300 cusecs from the Gandak Western Main Canal to irrigate about 10,000 ha of land in the Nawalparasi district. Nepal also got 10,000 Kw of power from the Surajpura Power House in the Gandak Western Main Canal with an installed capacity of 15,000 Kw under the Gandak Agreement.
Mahakali Treaty 1996:
Mahakali Treaty was signed in Delhi on February 12, 1996 by the respective Prime Ministers of India and Nepal.
Article 1 paragraph 1 of the Treaty maintains the water supply for Irrigation to Nepal as provided in the Mahakali Agreement signed in 1920.
It also covers the water supplied by 1920 Agreement in case of failure of Sharada Barrage. India also agreed to supply additionally 28.35 m³/sec (1000 cusecs) of water in the wet season and 8.50 m³/sec (300 cusecs) in the dry season. This is to be provided in lieu of the eastern afflux bund constructed by India at Jimuwa in the Nepalese side.
Also, Nepal got the supply of 70 million Kwh (units) of energy on a continuous basis annually from the date of entry into force of this Treaty. This is 15% of 448.4 million Kwh of energy generated at 120,000 Kw Power Plant at Tanakpur. The main component of the Treaty i.e. the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project is, however, still under review by both the Governments on the finalization of Detailed Project Report prepared.
Future Co-operation with India:
In its talks with India, Nepal should seek the co-operation of India for its navigation rights to the sea and make the river stretches navigable for it to happen. Nepal has also to seek the co-operation of India to get the benefit of regulated water for irrigation and flood control in India to arrive at some agreeable solution as there will be many storage projects in Nepal which will have much more regulated water to handle.
Nepal should continue its dialogue in water resources keeping always in mind its sincere interest. All the benefits, Nepal and India will get in any future co-operation have to be explicitly mentioned in Treaty itself to avoid any doubts whatsoever taking the lesson from Mahakali Treaty signed in 1996 which has not made much headway even 23 years after the Treaty due to untenable claims India has made regarding the water use that Nepal cannot agree with. Nepal should take projects with both sides in Win-Win situation. For meaningful dialogue with India, Nepal has to create human expertise within the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation conversant with Nepal’s Water Resources technically and legally.
Conclusion
Nepal should always have unified stand at the national level in any negotiation with India with the Universal Truth, United You Stand Divided You Fall.