"The impending expiry of the Ganga Water Treaty is as much an ecological question as a diplomatic one." Discuss what a renewed treaty should contain.

The 1996 Ganga Water Treaty shares the Ganga's lean-season (January–May) flow at Farakka [2]. It expires on 12 December 2026 [1]. Renewing it tests India's Neighbourhood First diplomacy. It also asks whether a stressed river can still supply the shares written on paper.

Diplomatic dimension

• Political transition: India is now dealing with PM Tarique Rahman's new government. It calls the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) the "structured mechanism" for all shared rivers [1].
• Slow process: in August 2025, bilateral renewal talks were "yet to commence" [3].
• Federal stake: Farakka water feeds the Hooghly and Kolkata Port, so West Bengal pays for any concession. The Centre says the state has been consulted in inter-ministerial meetings [3].
• Multilateral pull: in 2025, Bangladesh became the first South Asian party to the 1992 UN Water Convention [5]. This gives Dhaka a global rulebook to point to.

Ecological dimension

• Outdated baseline: the sharing schedule rests on 1949–1988 average flows at Farakka [2]. That data comes from before climate stress, upstream withdrawals and silting cut dry-season flow.
• No assured floor: when flow falls to 70,000 cusecs or less, it is split equally. Below 50,000 cusecs, the treaty only requires the two governments to consult [2].
• Volume, not river health: the treaty divides cusecs but sets no environmental flow for fisheries, sediment or Sundarbans salinity.

What a renewed treaty should contain

• Updated hydrology: a joint JRC study of recent lean-season flows before the shares are fixed.
• Drought protocol: India cannot guarantee a fixed volume it does not control. Instead, set a trigger flow level, with time-bound consultation and an agreed rule for sharing any shortfall. This follows the equitable utilisation and no significant harm principles (Articles 5 and 7) of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention [4].
• Environmental flows: minimum ecological flows for the Hooghly and the downstream channels in Bangladesh, monitored jointly.
• Federal voice: a formal role for West Bengal in JRC technical talks, to avoid a Teesta-style deadlock.
• Review clause: a shorter term with a mid-term review, and a bridge extension if talks run past 12 December.

The renewal therefore sits where diplomacy, federalism and river ecology meet. India could agree a short bridge extension tied to a fixed timetable for renegotiation. A treaty then built on current data, drought rules and environmental flows would make the JRC a forum for managing the whole basin. That would advance SDG 6.5 on cross-border water cooperation and make the Ganga a bridge between the neighbours, not a grievance.