Press Release
6th International Water Conference 2021
“River has the Rights to Flow as it was Flowing”
ActionAid Bangladesh, Dhaka, 29 January 2021
“The rights of the river means the rights of the people live on the bank of it. River has the right to flow as it was flowing”- said Dr. Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research, BRAC University, Bangladesh in the session on Rights of Rivers in the second day (28 January 2021) of the 6th International Water Conference organised by the ActionAid Bangladesh.
About managing the flow of rivers, Dr. Nishat also stated that attention should be paid to the natural balance of the rivers. The average annual flow or pick flow should be never taken into consideration rather the month-by-month flows should be considered, he added. About the implications of building large dams, he also added ecological and social consideration should be taken into account. About the Teesta river issue Dr. Nishat mentioned that, “Teesta Has been turned into a zero-flow river” and he suggested that the solution could be to conserve the high flow during monsoon and using it in lean period.
During the session on Rights of River, the speakers focused on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of building large dams. Dr. Rohan D’Souza, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan mentioned, that Dams are naturally viewed as the symbols of development and nation building since 1930. But during 2000’s these views have been challenged on the ground that large dams often ignore people’s indigenous rights to river, he added. Although it has been argued that large dams are good source of renewable energy, they are transforming local endowment to natural resources Dr. D’ Souza mentioned.
Adil Qayoom Mallah, Research Scholar, University of Kashmir, India in his presentation on ‘Bangladesh’s River Right: Contesting the Teesta Water’ mentioned “Transboundary water has become an issue of high politics in South Asia’. The hydro-political conflicts between two states are highly determined by the riparian position of the states he added. About Bangladesh-India Teesta river issues, Dr. Adil Mallah also mentioned, Teesta is the fourth largest transboundary river between these two countries and construction of large dams and barrages by the India in the upstream have drastically reduced the flow in downstream Bangladesh.
In the presentation by Dr. Manzoorul Kibria, Professor, Zoology Department, University of Chittagong it has been mentioned that, due to unplanned construction of sluice gates and dams, the wastes of Anonna Residential area and Asian paper mills, the ecological balance of Halda river is getting highly impacted. The presentation also added, due to ecological imbalance and pollution in Halda river, this only natural carp spawning ground in Bangladesh and the tidal river in the world, the fertilized fish eggs collection is decreasing day by day. An interesting finding has also been shared that fish egg production was counted 25536 kg in 2020 during COVID-19 which broke the previous records of 14 years.
During the first session of this conference on Water, Gender and COVID-19 nexus the speakers mainly focused on how women are impacted on grounds of water in the pandemic situation.
Hina Lotia, Independent Expert, Climate Change and Water Resource Management, Pakistan in her speech stated that getting adequate water is already a challenge in many countries. Water policies generally avoid gender, but women and children are most vulnerable to access the pure and safe water, she added. And recently the access to safe and pure water is declined dramatically due to the COVID-19 outbreak she also mentioned.
Dr. Mahbuba Nasreen, Professor & Director, Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, University of Dhaka stated “Water sector is not gender neutral. Women and girls bear the burden of collecting drinking water within household”. During COVID-19, with the increased demand of household water for washing hands and other household equipment women’s role in household water management has expanded and posed excessive burden on them Dr. Nasreen added.
Barrister Manzoor Hasan OBE, Executive Director, Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) and Chairperson, Executive Board, ActionAid International Bangladesh Society (AAIBS) stated, “Issues of water flowing through rivers are key factors in terms of international relations”. We should be talking about the rights of rivers as it will mean talking about the rights of individual, he added. Barrister Manzoor also mentioned, the way river flows are exploited world-wide, people living along the banks of river is being seriously affected.
Among others, Dr. Catherine Grasham, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK; Farah Kabir, Country Director, ActionAid Bangladesh; Lubna Marium, Dancer and Cultural Activist; Rahima Sultana Kazal, General Assembly Member of ActionAid International Bangladesh Society (AAIBS) spoke in the second day of the conference. The 3-day conference ends on January 29, continued each day from 4pm-7.30pm.
