Farakka Barrage turned into a deadly trap due to Awami League policies: Fakhrul

Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that decisions taken by the former Awami League government deprived Bangladesh of its fair share of water and turned India’s Farakka Barrage into a “deadly trap” for the country.

In a statement issued on Friday (May 16) marking the historic Farakka Day, Fakhrul said the then government allowed India to operate the barrage on a trial basis without considering environmental balance, biodiversity, or the risk of humanitarian and ecological disasters.

“Although it was initially permitted temporarily, the barrage has continued operating ever since and has now become a deadly trap,” he said.

Fakhrul claimed that the unilateral withdrawal of water from shared rivers by India, particularly through the Farakka Barrage on the Ganges, has severely affected northwestern Bangladesh, causing desertification, water scarcity and environmental imbalance in the region.

Recalling the historic Farakka Long March led by veteran politician Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani in 1976, the minister said millions had joined the movement demanding Bangladesh’s rightful share of water under international law.

He said Bhashani’s protest brought international attention to the potential humanitarian consequences of the barrage and remains a symbol of the country’s struggle for water rights.

Fakhrul further alleged that India’s construction of dams on several of the 54 shared rivers between the two countries has become a growing threat to Bangladesh’s environmental and economic stability.

He described Farakka Day as a significant chapter in Bangladesh’s history of mass movements and said its message remains relevant in the country’s ongoing fight for equitable water sharing.