A seven-member Bangladesh delegation arrived in Kolkata on Monday on a five-day visit to review the Ganga-Padma Water Sharing Agreement and discuss various river-related issues. As part of the 86th meeting of the Expert Committee under the auspices of the Joint Rivers Commission, the Bangladeshi representatives left Kolkata on Monday afternoon to inspect the Farakka Barrage.

Muhammad Abul Hossain, one of the members of the Joint Rivers Commission, is leading the Bangladeshi delegation. Along with him are JRCB Sub-Divisional Engineer Midari Jahan, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources Mohammad Shamsuzzaman, JRCB Member (Technical Committee) Mohammad Abul Hossain, Additional Chief Engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board (Sylhet) Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, Additional Chief Engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board (Comilla) Mohammad Abu Taher, Superintendent Engineer of Hydro Informatics and Flood Forecasting Department of Bangladesh Water Development Board (Dhaka) Dr. Mohammad Sajjad Hossain.

Representatives of India will also be present along with the Bangladesh delegation during the visit to Farakka Dam. It is learnt that experts from both countries will periodically conduct a field visit to the Farakka Dam point on the Ganges in India and the Hardinge Bridge point on the Padma in Bangladesh to jointly examine the water flow and other issues. Bangladesh has complained at various times that it does not get enough water from the Farakka Dam during the dry season. On the other hand, the Indian side claims that due to the natural fluctuations in the water flow, the amount of water sometimes increases or decreases. It is learnt that those issues will also be examined during this visit and meeting.

After visiting Farakka, a two-day meeting of the Bangladesh and Indian technical expert committees will be held in Kolkata on March 6-7.