Discuss the key provisions of the 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty and the challenges in its renewal in 2026.

Signed on 12 December 1996 by Prime Ministers H.D. Deve Gowda and Sheikh Hasina, the Ganga Water Treaty governs lean-season sharing of Ganga waters at the Farakka Barrage [1]. With its 30-year term expiring on 31 December 2026, renewal has become simultaneously a diplomatic and a federal test for India.

Key provisions of the Treaty

• Sharing point: Farakka, the last control structure on the Ganga in India, in Murshidabad district, West Bengal [1].
• Lean-season formula: water is shared from 1 January to 31 May on a 10-daily basis [1]. If availability exceeds 75,000 cusecs, India may withdraw up to 40,000 cusecs; below 70,000 cusecs, the flow is shared equally; in between, Bangladesh is assured a minimum of 35,000 cusecs [1].
• Duration and review: valid for 30 years, with a review provision every five years [1].
• Institutional mechanism: implementation is monitored by a Joint Committee headed by Members of the Joint Rivers Commission from both sides, with the Ministry of Jal Shakti as the technical nodal agency [2].

Challenges in renewal

• Diplomatic uncertainty: renewal talks, announced at technical level in 2024, have progressed slowly amid the political transition in Dhaka, compressing the negotiating window before December 2026 [4].
• Federal friction: river treaties fall under the Union's treaty-making power under Article 253 [3]; upstream states can be consulted but not bind the Centre. Bihar has demanded renegotiation, citing silt accumulation upstream and water shortage for drinking, irrigation and industry [4].
• Institutional response: the External Affairs Minister has assured that Bihar's interests will be factored in, following inter-ministerial consultations led by the Jal Shakti Ministry [4].
• Ecological stress: declining dry-season flows and sedimentation question whether a 1996 formula still fits present hydrology.

Renewal must therefore move beyond a mechanical extension. A revised treaty combining assured flows for Bangladesh, a scientific silt-management study for Bihar, and structured state consultation would strengthen both cooperative federalism and neighbourhood-first diplomacy.