Indian minister says no to Koshi treaty review:-

A senior Indian union minister has said the Koshi treaty between Nepal and India need not be reviewed.

In an interview with the BBC Nepali service, Indian water resources minister Saif Uddin Soz said nothing was wrong with the treaty. "The treaty is in shape, I don't think that treaty needs a fundamental review. But we will pay minute attention on the things that need to be done in Nepal side and our side," he said.

Soz's comments have come at a time when the Koshi deluge is to be high on the agenda during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's India visit beginning Sunday. Critics have said the more than 50 year old treaty was not a fair deal for Nepal.

Touring the deluge in Sunsari district after the Koshi burst its embankments last month, Prime Minister Dahal had said, "Nepali people have been fighting against feudalism and all sorts of foreign interference since 1950s. This process is also related to the historical process of the same fight."

But Indian minister Soz said, "Nepal is an independent country, it can say what it thinks about the treaty. All ideas from both the sides can be discussed, there is no worry."

He said all ideas would be considered to tame the Koshi river. "High dams, embankments, we shall discuss every possible solution. We know that the Nepal government is very serious on the issue."

Indian media reported earlier that authorities in Bihar had recommended to the Indian central government in India to push for high dams in the Nepali side to control the meandering Koshi river for the long term.

Under the Koshi treaty, the Bihar government is responsible for the repair and maintenance of the embankment that collapsed allowing the Koshi to submerge hundreds of villages in Nepal and India displacing millions in both the countries.

Although Nepal and India had initially pointed fingers at each other for not timely repairing the embankment, the blame game has now shifted between the Indian central government and the Bihar state.

While Bihar officials have said that the central government was informed timely, Delhi has said it had no idea.

Speaking in the BBC interview with Navin Singh Khadka, Minster Soz said, "After an MP from Bihar informed me about the situation, it was me who alerted the Bihar Chief Minister Nitesh Kumar while it should have been him who should have alerted me."

When asked what was India's primary interest in Nepal's water resources, Soz said the first priority was flood control. "It definitely is flood control followed by irrigation."

And the much touted hydropower? "That is after flood control and irrigation, if it comes as a byproduct of our priorities." nepalnews.com Sep 14 08

Should we review this koshi river treaty?

What do you think? Is it fair for Nepal?