Nilphamari Correspondent :
Silt removal operations at the country’s largest irrigation facility, the Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project, have come to a near standstill due to an acute shortage of dredgers.
Every year, massive quantities of silt accumulate in the silt trap, but the absence of functional dredging equipment has now put the irrigation system at serious risk.
According to sources at the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), the mechanical division at the Dalia point had one operational dredger until 2017.
The machine became inoperative that year due to mechanical failure, and since then no new dredger has been procured. Between 2017 and 2025, neither the government nor development partners such as the Netherlands supplied any new dredgers.
As a result, locally manufactured “boma machines” or makeshift dredgers are being used on a limited scale for silt removal.
However, officials said these locally made machines cannot remove silt evenly creating uneven depths that disrupt the natural water flow in the channels. An engineering expert noted, “Local dredgers cannot remove silt uniformly or efficiently.
Their uneven cutting patterns fail to meet BWDB’s technical standards.”
BWDB data show that about 700,000 cubic meters of silt have already accumulated in the silt trap, while plans are in place to remove only 292,000 cubic meters this year. Md. Maidul Islam, Sub-Assistant Engineer at the Dalia BWDB office, said, “Two tender packages worth Tk 4.79 crore have been floated from the civil section for silt removal in the silt trap.”
Local farmer Mohammad Sirajul Islam (67) of Bhishmuri village said, “The canals used to carry a lot more water five to six years ago. Now the flow has reduced drastically.”
Executive Engineer Amitabh Chowdhury of the Dalia BWDB office said, “We have repeatedly requested the Ministry of Water Resources and BIWTA for new dredgers.
They informed us that initiatives are underway to import new ones next year. Until then, we have to continue limited operations using local dredgers, though it is far from sufficient.”
He added that two contracting firms United Brothers Rangpur and Shamimur Rahman Sirajganj are currently working on the silt removal project and are trying their best to maintain progress.
