Govt will carry out it through discussion with India

Staff Reporter :
Teesta, one of the country’s major rivers, is always considered as the lifeline of agriculture and other aquatic life in the northern part, but the locals suffer a lot during the dry season as the riverbed becomes visible for shortage of water flow, leading to dehydration in croplands.
The situation has been created, as stakeholders say, due to the diversion of water on the upper riparian part of Teesta where the neighbouring India has set a number of hydro-projects for electricity generation.
Keeping this issue in mind, the government of Bangladesh has been trying to set up mechanisms for storing Teesta water to be used in dry seasons as the water sharing of this international river has not been settled with India for ages.
In order to mitigate the shortage of water, the government said they have a mega plan for Teesta river water and are holding talks with India to implement the plan.
“Whenever we have talks with India, the Teesta issue comes to the fore. We have many plans with rivers, water and soil. We are repeatedly holding talks with India repeatedly,” Planning Minister MA Mannan said on Wednesday.
While addressing as the Chief Guest at the Silver Jubilee ceremony of Mostafi Haat Girls High School in Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila, he said, “We would implement the mega plan through discussion with India. Current government has been carrying out all plans to implement the plan.”
He further said, “Teesta is an important issue. We have already made a number of drafts on the Teesta Mega plan. It will be implemented soon through discussion with the Indian government.”
Due to the depletion of Teesta river water every year, the local inhabitants are mostly dependent on the shallow and deep pumps for the irrigation of their croplands.
But experts said that the dependence on the underground water will pose a threat to the biodiversity in the region and ultimately it may turn towards desertification if the matter continues.
On different occasions, the locals have been urging both the governments to take the issue seriously as part of their survival.