PM likely to open Tk 8500cr Teesta Master-Plan Project Wednesday
Staff Reporter :
More than two crore people on both sides the Teesta River have been suffering from severe drought in the dry season and devastating floods and river-bank erosion during monsoon every year for long.
However, the inhabitants of the northern division Rangpur are eagerly waiting for an announcement regarding Teesta Master Plan project by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the PM is scheduled to visit Rangpur on Wednesday.
It’s expected that the PM will give announcement of implementing the project and allocate at least Tk 3000 crore of its estimated cost of Tk 8,500 crore.
Once the project is implemented, some six crore people of Teesta region will be benefited by saving croplands and crops from the erosion of the river.
Experts claimed that more Tk 20,000 crore is being damaged every year in the Teesta River area.
People and leaders and activists of ruling AL and pro-government political parties of Rangpur region have been waiting keenly for the mass-gathering at Rangpur Zilla High School ground expecting announcement of implementing the much-awaited Teesta Master-Plan Project along with various development projects for the division.
The Teesta master plan aims to ensure the sustainable and equitable use of water resources between Bangladesh and India, promote irrigation, and reduce flood risks. It also aims to address the issue of water-sharing between the two countries.
According to the primary plan, the project is aimed at upgrading the socio-economic condition of Rangpur by establishing new economic growth points along both banks of the river by preventing floods and removing slits from the river bed.
The Teesta is practically a dead river in Bangladesh because of excessive siltation as it has been deprived of its natural flow for decades and the surrounding environment has been damaged adding to the suffering of the people.
Originating in Sikkim in India and entering Bangladesh through Lalmonirhat, the 315-kilometre-long Teesta travels more than 150 kilometres through half a dozen other districts, including Rangpur, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Kurigram, before merging with the Jamuna River at Fulchhari.
Drought in the Teesta Basin takes a devastating turn in the dry season when people can cross the river on foot.
In the wet season, the entire flow of the river is released through the sluice gates of the Gajal Doba Barrage in India when it cannot carry this excess load of water due to lack of depth.
As a result, this causes devastating floods and bank erosions every year. Four waves of the flood last year pauperised the people living on its two banks.
Despite continuous assurances, the Bangladesh part of the river continues to be deprived of water in the dry season.
During a visit to the flood affected Teesta region recently, it was seen that hundreds of acres lands were eroded in the river along with huge houses, homesteads, croplands and schools, colleges, madrasas, mosques and graveyards in last two years.
Most people are afraid of protecting the houses, croplands and others from the river erosion. They want immediate implementation of the project that could save them.
While visiting Rangpur Gangachara’s Laksmitari Union’s Shakardaha village recently, it was seen that there is nothing in the village. However, it was busy village with hundreds of houses, schools, madrasas and mosques. The entire village went under the river in the erosion of the Teesta during this season.
President Nazrul Islam Hakkani and General Secretary Shafiar Rahman of the Teesta Bachao, Nodi Bachao Sangram Parishad told this correspondent that a six-member team of the parishad met Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Kabir Bin Anwar at his Dhanmondi office recently.
Kabir Bin Anwar, also a retired secretary assured them the master-plan would be implemented soon to save the people of the region from their sufferings.
The work would be inaugurated soon. Around Tk 3,000 crore to Tk 3,500 would be allocated initially to start the work, he said, adding that they hope that the PM will give her announcement in the public rally on August 2 during her visit the Rangpur division.
Meanwhile, the Power China Company of the People’s Republic of China at the instance of Bangladesh Water Development Board has prepared a Taka 100 billion comprehensive project not only to mitigate the annual flood and erosion damages but also to ensure the overall socio-economic development of the people of the Northwestern region.
The project stands for sustainable development along the 102-kilometre length of the river from the Teesta Barrage at Dalia of Nilphamari district to its outfall in the Brahmaputra via Mohipur and Kaunia.
According to Bangladesh Water Development Board sources the project is likely to be implemented under a loan agreement. But a final go ahead is yet to be given.
However, under the project, work of 113 kilometres would be done initially.
It would be needed around Tk 8,240 crore for the total project. The Chinese government has agreed to provide loans for the project at higher interest. Their interest rate might be 3 to 4 per cent.
But, JICA and World Bank’s interest rates might be within two per cent. The government is working on the matter, so that it can arrange money at lower rates, Water Development Board sources said.
