Farakka Barrage: A curse to Bangladesh and Blessing to West Bengal

West Bengal is the rice bowl of India and water required for irrigation and other purposes are supplied via Ganges River. To control the flow and to protect port Kolkata (Calcutta) against siltation in 1961 Indian government decided to construct Farakka Barrage across Ganges River. 

Farakka barrage was constructed by Hindustan Construction Company. It has 123 gates and it serves water to the Farakka Super Thermal Power Station. There are also sixty canals which can divert the water to another place.

Farakka Barrage

Farakka barrage was built to divert up to 40,000 cu ft/s (1,100 m3/s) of water from the Ganges River into the Hooghly River during the dry season, from January to June, in order to flush out the accumulating silt which in the 1950s and 1960s was a problem at the Port of Kolkata (Calcutta) on the Hooghly River. The Hooghly River divides Murshidabad and Malda districts of West Bengal. 

Farakka Barrage is located in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) from the border with Bangladesh near Chapai Nawabganj District. Construction was completed in 1975.

Farakka Feeder Canal to Bhagirathi-Hooghly

Operations began on April 21, 1975. Farakka barrage is about 2,240 metres (7,350 ft) long. The feeder canal from the barrage to the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River is about 25 miles (40 km) long.

The surrounding area of ‘The Farakka Water Barrier' becomes the desert as well as non-cultivating land. That means, a huge cultivable land of Bangladesh becomes non-cultivable land just because of ‘The Farakka Water Barrier'. Moreover, a good number of people of this arena, who lived near Farakka in the recent past, have migrated themselves in India.