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Completed in 1974, the 'Farakka Barrage' is a dam located 10 km from the Indian side of the border between India and Bangladesh, in the state of West Bengal. India uses it to control the flow of the Ganges river.
The dam was built to divert the Ganges River water into the Hooghly River during the dry season, from January to June, in order to flush out the accumulating silt which in the 1950s and 1960s was a problem at the major port of Calcutta on the Hooghly River.^[1]
Bangladesh and India have had many debates about how the 'Farakka Barrage' cuts off Bangladesh's water supply. Also in Bangladesh, the diversion has raised salinity levels, contaminated fisheries, hindered navigation, and posed a threat to water quality and public health.^[2] Lower levels of soil moisture along with increased salinity have also led to desertification.^[3]

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References

1. Bangladesh : a country study, , , , Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, ,
2. Wolf, Aaron T. “Water and Human Security.” Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education. 118. (2001): 29.
3. "Indo-Bangladesh Common Rivers: The Impact on Bangladesh." Contemporary South Asia. 1. 2. (1992):5.