ABSTRACT
One of the major stumbling blocks in water resources planning for co-basin and co-riparian countries is that adherence to the political boundary may be to derive political benefits. As we all know, water simply flows from a higher elevation to a lower elevation. For delta regions, the upper riparian countries are at a higher elevation and in an advantageous position in terms of large-scale interventions. The lower riparian countries suffer from water shortages if a dam is built by an upper riparian to divert the flow to their benefit without having a proper sharing arrangement to meet various demands for drinking, agriculture, fisheries, navigation and the environment. This kind of unilateral diversion without proper consultation, negotiation and sharing arrangements may lead to a long-term dispute and environmental hazard such as desertification. Sometimes, politicians gain by politicizing the issues linking it to the national interest ‘in an over-inspired patriotic feeling’. In the long run, these kinds of short-sighted national-interest oriented plans fall apart. Unique examples are some of the barrages that have raised the bed levels of the upstream rivers to a threatened level. Had there been an integrated approach towards water resources planning among the co-basin and co-riparian countries, these kinds of hazards could have been avoided to a large extent.
