Upreti, Trilochan, International Watercourses Law and Its Application ...

188 / International Watercourses Law and Its Application in South Asia Prospects and Problems of Nepalese Water Resources / 189(UP) at her own cost and initiative, and so it was natural forIndia to accrue benefits for herself. However, an assessment ofthe treaty provisions seems to indicate that much of the benefitswent to India inequitably, since Nepal swapped its ownterritory with India to make this project feasible; sucharrangements are rarely encountered in international water caselaw elsewhere.Another water resource project involving Indo-Nepal cooperation,the first to be undertaken after the independence ofIndia, was the Kosi Project Agreement, being a multipurposescheme including hydropower generation (20,000 KW).However, a major component of the project was flood controland irrigation, the so-called "sorrow of Bihar" 28 , whichannually caused tremendous loss of lives and property severaltimes mainly in India, but also in Nepal. The project wasconceived and several studies were undertaken from 1946;however, by 1954 it was considered urgent to implement theproject in order to eliminate and mitigate the recurrent anddevastating effect of the Kosi flood during the monsoon season.The Kosi scheme consisted of a canal system, flowing channelson both sides, a barrage across the river and a hydro station.The barrage consisted of 56 gates and was 3770 feet long. Thepurpose of its construction of the barrage was to minimise theerosion of soil and deposit of silt. 29 For the project,embankments were constructed on both sides of the riverextending for about 130 km downstream almost up to theconfluence of Kosi with the Ganges, to ensure flood protectionof approximately 280,000 ha of land; a diversion structure wasalso built for a network of canals to provide irrigation to a totalof 1,150,000 ha of land. 30 However, the project was seriouslycriticised at all levels in Nepal, the complaint being that it was asell out of national property for India’s benefits and thatnothing had been obtained for Nepal in return for a hugeexpenditure of resources. Political unrest and generalresentment within Nepal resulted from this outcry. Eventually,India agreed to reconsider, 31 and the revised agreement inwhich some of Nepal’s concerns were accommodated wassigned on 19 December 1966. Thus, in view of the assurance ofthe then Indian Prime Minister Lal B. Sastri, Nepal agreed toresume work on the project. Pursuant to the revised agreement,some arrangements were changed to assure Nepal's 32 benefit:• Any construction or other undertaking by India inconnection with the Kosi Project was to be planned andcarried out in consultation with the NepaleseGovernment. Nepal was to provide facilities to theIndian officials necessary for surveys and investigationsinside the project area, for the maintenance andoperation of the project.• The land needed for construction works was to beleased to the Indian government in return forcompensation payments.• It was agreed that Nepal should have the right towithdraw water from the Kosi and its tributaries as andwhen required.• The Government of Nepal would be entitled to obtainfrom India, for use in Nepal, up to 50% of the totalhydroelectric power generated by any powerhousesituated within a ten-mile radius of the barrage site.• The land acquired and leased to India, which wasinitially given for an unlimited period, was now to be28 Ibid.29 Ibid. pp 95-98; also see supra note 17, pp. 200-202.30 T. Prasad, "Comprehensive Water Resources Development in Indo-Nepal Region: Perspectives and Prospects” presented at a conferenceon Large Scale Water Management held in Kathmandu, 1997, p. 18.31 Ibid. Also note that the Indian Power and Irrigation Minister, K. L. Raogave assurances that the Treaty would be revised in 1962-63 during hisvisit to Nepal and in 1965 during the visit of Prime Minister Lal B.Sastri visit this was again assured, supra note 17, pp. 100-101.32 Ibid. pp. 100-102.