Abstract
Sharing of transboundary freshwater among riparian states has existed as a problem since ancient times. In Bangladesh, there are more than 200 rivers, which have their origin in other countries, e. g., India, Nepal and China and almost all the rivers flow through India before entering into Bangladesh. Among these rivers, the Teesta is an important one- the issue of sharing of the water of which has not yet been solved. The Bangladesh authorities constructed a barrage at Dalia (located at the downstream) to use Teesta water for irrigation purposes. Only two years after the commencement of the operation of the Dalia barrage, the Indian authorities started operating the Gazoldoba barrage at the upstream. This resulted in the Dalia barrage's becoming practically useless. Moreover, at the freewill of the Gazoldoba authorities, the people of the downstream (Bangladesh) experience flash floods. The authorities of both the countries met many times and signed treaties to resolve the problem, but have failed to reach an effective solution. We believe that treaties that are only politically induced and do not include provisions for economic benefits on part of the riparian states are not likely to sustain for long. In this paper, we try to develop a simple theoretical model for bilateral sharing of international river water, which would be able to provide equitable and highest possible benefit for the residents of the river basin area as a whole. Moreover, we propose an optimal solution to the water-sharing problem of the Teesta River.
