West Bengal CM Calls for Indo-Bhutan River Commission Inclusion

Quick Summary

• Demand for Indo-Bhutan River Commission: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reiterated her demand for the creation of an Indo-Bhutan River Commission with Bengal as a member, citing recurring floods caused by Bhutan’s Sankosh river in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.

• Previous Responses from Jal Shakti Ministry: the ministry stated on August 11, 2025, that no proposal to form such a river commission is under consideration despite bilateral mechanisms already established for managing flood-related issues.

• Existing Flood management Mechanisms: Current cooperation between India and Bhutan on trans-border rivers includes Joint Groups of Experts (JGE), Joint Technical Teams (JTT), and Joint Expert Teams (JET) for flood management and forecasting.

• Flood Concerns in West Bengal: The Chief Minister highlighted risks posed by northern rivers such as Teesta from Sikkim, Bhutanese waters, and southern inundations linked to reservoir releases by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). She termed south bengal floods “man-made.”

• Criticism on union Budget allocations:

– Ms. Banerjee criticized the lack of funds allocated to Bengal for flood control in comparison to Assam.
– Accused shifting priorities away from Kolkata with one office of a River Commission moved to Patna.

• Geography Observation & plea: She described West Bengal’s terrain “like a boat,” emphasizing its capacity limits due to inflows from neighboring states’ rivers like UP’s Ganga contributions.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The recurring challenges related to flooding in West Bengal signpost critical infrastructure gaps at both regional and transnational levels. While Mamata Banerjee’s call for an Indo-Bhutan River Commission aims at improved coordination over cross-border water flows, India’s current reliance on bilateral mechanisms suggests operational continuity but potentially limited actionability if state-specific concerns like those raised by West Bengal go unaddressed.

The persistent critique about uneven fund allocation raises broader questions concerning resource distribution equity among states facing similar threats across geographies. Even though financial disparities or bureaucratic restructuring may exacerbate perceptions of neglect toward specific regions-even within cooperative frameworks-the existence of joint expert groups reflects some groundwork being laid toward solutions.

For India at large, balancing responsibilities over internal state disputes alongside collaborative water diplomacy requires long-term planning that accounts not just scientific predictabilities but political alignment across borders and domestic center-state interplay-a challenge magnified under climate unpredictability impacting riverine ecosystems universally.

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