The Patna letters

Since early 1993, Patna had been asking an unsympathetic central government for help in curbing the water appetite of upstream states. But even as talks were going on, Delhi. with the help of West Bengal, signed the Farakka Agreement with Bangladesh in December 1996. Excerpted below are the concerns of the Biharis in letters written by their Water Resources Minister; Jagadanand Singh, left, to the union minister for water resources in New Delhi:

(21 July 1994) Upstream UP's [Uttar Pradesh's] barrage project promoted with the concurrence of the Government of India (GOI) without examining its impact on lower riparian states such as Bihar and West Bengal, is regrettable. This project, as well as others on the various tributaries of the Ganga, places a question mark not only on Bihar's water rights but also on the ability of GOI to meet its international obligations.