Teesta survey done, timeline awaited: PM
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman told parliament on Wednesday that the Bangladesh Water Development Board has completed its survey for the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan, with the study recommending dredging of 110 kilometres of the river — though a final timeline remains contingent on the outcome of an ongoing feasibility review.
The Prime Minister made the disclosure while responding to a question from Md Mazedur Rahman, a BNP lawmaker from the Gaibandha-1 constituency, during the morning session of the Jatiya Sangsad, with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, in the chair.
“The Bangladesh Water Development Board has already completed a survey to implement the Teesta Master Plan.
The study report recommended the implementation of 110 kilometres of river dredging work,” Tarique Rahman said, adding that the Gaibandha-1 constituency falls within the proposed dredging stretch.
Describing the Teesta as vital to the livelihoods of millions in the northern region, the Prime Minister outlined the seasonal challenges that have long made the river as much a hazard as a resource.
During the monsoon, he said, excessive rainfall triggers sudden floods and severe riverbank erosion across the region. In the dry season, the situation reverses dramatically — water flow drops sharply, and in many stretches comes close to zero.
Heavy sediment carried downstream during the rainy season causes significant siltation, Tarique Rahman added, causing the river to fragment into multiple shallow channels — a pattern that undermines both navigation and agricultural water supply.
While the survey has been completed, the Prime Minister indicated the project has not yet crossed the threshold into implementation. The technical and financial aspects of the submitted feasibility study are currently under scrutiny at different stages, he said.
“Once the scrutiny is completed and the project is found technically feasible, the timeline for implementing the work will be determined,” he told the house.
The Teesta Master Plan has been a long-discussed but chronically delayed initiative, with its implementation complicated over the years by both domestic resource constraints and the unresolved bilateral water-sharing dispute with India. The completion of the BWDB survey marks a procedural step forward, though the government stopped short of committing to a project launch date.
