The much-discussed Talpatti now belongs to India!

The Dhaka Times Desk South Talpatti falls within India even though the judgment on the Bangladesh-India maritime boundary is in favor of Bangladesh. For almost three decades, Bangladesh and India have been arguing about this Talpatti.

For a long time, Bangladesh and India had been in a debt-court dispute over this issue. Talpatti Island has not been occupied by India since its inception. Since then, Bangladesh has been strongly claiming Talpatti Island. Since 1974 there have been various discussions on this matter with India. But nothing happened.

The West Bengal state government first announced after the disastrous cyclone of 1970 that a new island, Sandhya, had been found at the mouth of the Hariyabhanga river in the Twenty-four Parganas district. Then the data released by the United States Land Resources Satellite in 1974 shows that the area of the island is about two and a half thousand square meters. It rises up to 10 km during low tide.

The island is named 'Dakshin Talpatti' after claiming the ownership of this island on the border of Shyamnagar Upazila of Satkhira. On the other hand, India also claimed the right of the island on its map and named it 'Purbasha' or 'New Moor'.

In the early 1980s, Bangladesh-India tension started over the ownership of this island. Earlier in 1979, Bangladesh offered India a joint survey, but in 1981, India ignored it and sent military forces to fly its flag there.

Since then, the Talpatti issue has been repeatedly discussed in the politics of both countries but without any result. In 1990, the Center for Environmental and Geographical Information Services (CEGIS) reported the erosion of the island through a satellite survey. In the late 1990s, Talpatti was lost to the sea.

According to the judgment given by the Hague Arbitration Tribunal, South Talpatti falls within India as per the demarcation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and India. The government has nothing to do about it.

According to Hello Today Online, the much-discussed island was located at 21 degrees 37 minutes north latitude and 89 degrees 8 minutes east longitude. But the Hague Arbitration Tribunal ruled that the maritime boundary of Bangladesh and India would start at 21 degrees 38 minutes 40.2 seconds north latitude. 89 degrees 9 minutes 20 seconds east longitude.

Then the line touches 21 degrees 26 minutes 43.6 seconds north latitude, 89 degrees 10 minutes 59.2 seconds east longitude and 21 degrees 7 minutes 44.8 seconds north latitude, 89 degrees 13 minutes 56.5 seconds east longitude, this line will move south. . At 89 degrees 13 minutes 56.5 seconds east longitude and 177 degrees 30 minutes latitude (standard angle clockwise from that point) this line will coincide with the Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary.

Deputy Agent of Bangladesh and Secretary of Maritime Affairs Unit Retired Rear Admiral Md. "You know - it's a sand island," said Khurshed Alam on whether the tribunal had given any decision on Talpatti. The cyclone that happened in 1970, it rose. Later in 1985, it was destroyed in the cyclone that hit Uridchar. Since then it (South Talpatti) is no more. You can see it on the map. He said, “Since 1989 there is no such thing as an island. India also said in 2008, Newmore is no more.” Talpatti was located at this place on the Map-India map.

Khurshed Alam said to the news media, "This maritime boundary has been determined according to the Redcliffe Line of 1947. Talpatti is not in Bangladesh on that map either. Earlier it was necessary to revise these maps. He said, “Eighty years ago when the island was there, we claimed it. Now there is no island. Couldn't prove it on any of our maps. We have revised the map since 2010.”