Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud believes global warming and absence of rainfall in India were to blame for Bangladesh getting only 25,000 cusecs of water through the Ganges river on the first 10 days of March this year.

"It has happened after a long break...we (usually) get 65,000 cusecs," he told a two-day "National Water Rights Conference-2016" in the capital's Krishibid Institution Bangladesh yesterday against the backdrop of World Water Day, to be observed tomorrow.

Comparing Joint Rivers Commission, Bangladesh's data which was gathered centring the 10 days since 2008, The Daily Star found this year's figure to be the lowest.

The conference was jointly organised by Water Rights Forum, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa), Bangladesh Water Integrity Network, Transparency International Bangladesh and Human Development Research Centre.

In his keynote paper, Incidin Bangladesh Executive Director AKM Masud Ali recommended enacting a law to give the right to water a legal recognition and giving attention to proper distribution of water instead of allowing people to do business with it.

Bapa General Secretary Dr Abdul Matin and lawmakers AKM Fazlul Haque and Yasin Ali addressed the programme, chaired by Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir.