Patna: A Durga Puja pandal in Patna has turned the contentious Farakka water-sharing issue into a striking visual statement, recreating the barrage while depicting Bihar’s floods, riverbank erosion and displacement.At Kasturba Path in the Jamuna Apartment lane off Boring Road, the Shri Shri Sarvajan Durga Puja Committee has built a 55-foot-high and 55-foot-wide replica of the Farakka Barrage, complete with gates and a working water system that sends streams cascading through the structure.The lower portion portrays the human cost of floods — families forced from their homes, people carrying belongings on their heads, submerged houses and farmland, and riverbank erosion. Messages around the structure include “Our water, our right” and a call to reconsider the Farakka water-sharing arrangement.“Every year we say Bihar is drowning, but we believe the larger issue is India’s water management. Bihar is caught between water released from Nepal upstream and the water-management arrangements downstream,” said Raju Yadav, vice-president of the puja committee.The committee has highlighted silt accumulation, changes in the river’s flow, flooding, erosion and drainage concerns. The theme comes as the 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganga water-sharing treaty completes its 30-year term in Dec 2026. The agreement governs the sharing of Ganga waters at Farakka during the dry season.The issue has also become a political talking point in Bihar. JD(U) national working president and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kumar Jha has demanded that any future arrangement take Bihar’s water requirements into account, including its needs up to 2050.Jha visited the pandal on Saturday and appreciated the initiative. The organisers said he assured them he would take up the issue.“We cannot go everywhere and protest. Through the media and this pandal, we want to spread the message across Patna, Bihar and the country,” Yadav said.The working water feature is among the main attractions. Motors and a fountain mechanism recreate the flow through the barrage with the water flow increasing when the four model gates are opened.“It is a small space, but we have tried to show what happens around the barrage. When the gates open, the water flow increases. We wanted people to see the issue rather than just read about it,” Yadav said.The pandal was constructed over about 42-43 days by artisans from Kolkata and West Bengal. Around 10-12 local committee members were involved. The committee has organised Durga Puja since 2017 and chose the Farakka theme as it completes 10 years of celebrations.
