The Centre on Tuesday rejected the Bengal government's claim that it had not been consulted on the internal review of the India-Bangladesh Treaty of 1996 on the sharing of Ganga waters, saying a nominee of the state had conveyed its demand for water downstream Farakka for the next 30 years.

The state lost no time to counter the claim saying only a small technical input had been sought from a joint secretary of the irrigation department, but no communication was done at the policy-making level.

A source in Delhi said on July 24, 2023, the Centre had sought a nominee of the state government on a committee formed to carry out an internal review of the India-Bangladesh Treaty of 1996 on the sharing of Ganga/Ganges waters at Farakka.

On August 25, the Bengal government conveyed the nomination of chief engineer (design & research) of the irrigation department on the central panel.

"On April 5, 2024, the joint secretary (works), irrigation & waterways department of the Bengal government, conveyed its demand for water for the next 30 years from the downstream stretch of the Farakka Barrage to the committee. The panel submitted its final report on June 14, 2024, which is being examined by the ministry of jal shakti," said a source in Delhi.

The Bengal government had also raised its concern about drinking water and industrial water requirements vis-a-vis the treaty. This was reiterated by the representative of Bengal, who had participated in the last meeting of the committee on May 31 this year, sources said.

The Centre's reaction comes a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing her reservation over discussions being held with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to share Teesta and Ganga water allegedly without the involvement of the state government.

"I am writing this letter in context of the recent visit of Hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh. It seems that water-sharing issues relating to the Ganges and Teesta rivers may have been discussed during the meeting. Such unilateral deliberations and discussions without consultation and the opinion of the state government is neither acceptable nor desirable," reads the letter Mamata sent to Modi on Monday.

Later, during a meeting with senior government officials and civic body chiefs at Nabanna on Monday, Mamata said the Centre was hurting the interest of Bengal.

"We have been suffering since 1996 (because of the Farakka water sharing treaty). They (the Centre) did not give us the money as promised. They did not carry out dredging. As a result, Calcutta port is getting disturbed.... If they don't listen to us and a unilateral decision is taken, agitations will be staged in Bengal as well as across the country," she told the meeting.

On Tuesday, Alapan Bandopadhyay, former chief secretary and the chief advisor to Mamata, said they had come to know from different sources that the Centre was claiming through unofficial channels that Bengal had been consulted on the Farakka water sharing since the state nominated the chief engineer of the irrigation department as the member of the technical committed formed by the Centre.

"The report submitted by the committee did not throw light on the interest of people and did not include the state's views on the Farakka Water Sharing Treaty which were explained by the chief minister in her three letters (to the PM). The irrigation official's input was only technical and not related to the state's policy over water sharing," he said.