No water for Teesta to irrigate crops
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Sadrul Alam Dulu
BANGLADESH'S biggest surface water irrigation project is in trouble. The Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project has a precarious existence. Why? India's unilateral withdrawal of water using Gozaldoba Barrage in the upstream of the Teesta river is causing problem to lower riparian Bangladesh.
The inability to operate the Teesta project to irrigate crop lands in Bangladesh is hurting millions of farmers in the country's north. The project is meant to give irrigation to 33 upazilas in the greater districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur and Bogra.
Apart from providing irrigation, the Teesta Barrage is also designed to control floods and drain out stagnant water.
Abnormally low water availability at the barrage point due to India's unilateral withdrawal of water from the upstream of the river has already made the irrigation project useless. The river is drying up in Bangladesh. Siltation has set in.
According to Water Development Board (WDB), at least 8000 cusecs of water is needed to operate the irrigation project. In January this year there was only 100 to 800 cusecs of water available at the barrage point. Things are expected to be no different during the coming January. The water level of the river has drastically fallen and is still falling.
WDB officials said thousands of farmers from the areas, to be covered by the irrigations project, come to them almost everyday to demand water to raise crops. A gloomy dry season face them.
India built a barrage at Gozaldoba point in Kochbihar district of West Bengal 64 kilometres above Nilphamari district, on the upstream of the river, to divert Teesta waters to the river Mahanonda.
Keeping all the gates of its barrage closed during the dry season, India stops the flow of water of the river as it enters Bangladesh, in the downstream.
The drastic reduction of water flow led to siltation of the Teesta's channel in Bangladesh making it shallow. On the covered river-bed by sand, many shoals came up. Besides creating water scarcity in Bangladesh, India's unilateral withdrawal has warned the groundwater table substantially and the ecological balance has been adversely affected in vast areas.
The construction of Bangladesh's Teesta barrage began in 1979 for providing irrigation to crops on about 0.54 million (5.4 lakh) hectares.
The first phase of irrigation network, completed at a cost of Tk 9.70 billion (970 crore) in 1998, much after completion of the barrage, to provide irrigation facility to 0.11 million (1.1 lakh) hectares of land in 12 upazilas, due to water shortage, can't irrigate even a fraction of the area.
The 12 upazilas covered by the first phase of the project are Sadar, Gangachhara, Badarganj and Taraganj in Rangpur, Sadar, Taldhaka, Sayeedpur, Dimla and Kishoreganj in Nilphamari, and Bandar, Parbatipur and Khanshama in Dinajpur.
The WDB officials said there is a plan to bring another 24 upazilas of the districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Joypurhat and Bogra under the second phase of the project. If this plan can be implemented, an additional 0.569 million (5.69 lakh) metric tons of food-grains can be produced annually. Although the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), the work on it could not be completed due to unavailability of funds.
Completed major structural work of the project include 80 kilometers of flood dam, 74 kms of project road, 615 meters of barrage, 610 meters of flood bypass, 33.67 kms of main canal and 143 regulators.
Instead of usual 25-30 feet high water level in Teesta in Bangladesh in the dry season, one could during a recent visit see Teesta full of sandy shoals.
Local people as well as the WBD officials said that India's unilateral withdrawal of water in the dry season poses a serious threat to the property of irrigated cultivation in Bangladesh India's withdrawal has resulted in shortages on surface as well as ground water and in Bangladesh making it difficult for the farmers to go for cultivation of Irri and Boro crops in the dry seasons.
Courtesy: NewsNetwork
BANGLADESH'S biggest surface water irrigation project is in trouble. The Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project has a precarious existence. Why? India's unilateral withdrawal of water using Gozaldoba Barrage in the upstream of the Teesta river is causing problem to lower riparian Bangladesh.
The inability to operate the Teesta project to irrigate crop lands in Bangladesh is hurting millions of farmers in the country's north. The project is meant to give irrigation to 33 upazilas in the greater districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur and Bogra.
Apart from providing irrigation, the Teesta Barrage is also designed to control floods and drain out stagnant water.
Abnormally low water availability at the barrage point due to India's unilateral withdrawal of water from the upstream of the river has already made the irrigation project useless. The river is drying up in Bangladesh. Siltation has set in.
According to Water Development Board (WDB), at least 8000 cusecs of water is needed to operate the irrigation project. In January this year there was only 100 to 800 cusecs of water available at the barrage point. Things are expected to be no different during the coming January. The water level of the river has drastically fallen and is still falling.
WDB officials said thousands of farmers from the areas, to be covered by the irrigations project, come to them almost everyday to demand water to raise crops. A gloomy dry season face them.
India built a barrage at Gozaldoba point in Kochbihar district of West Bengal 64 kilometres above Nilphamari district, on the upstream of the river, to divert Teesta waters to the river Mahanonda.
Keeping all the gates of its barrage closed during the dry season, India stops the flow of water of the river as it enters Bangladesh, in the downstream.
The drastic reduction of water flow led to siltation of the Teesta's channel in Bangladesh making it shallow. On the covered river-bed by sand, many shoals came up. Besides creating water scarcity in Bangladesh, India's unilateral withdrawal has warned the groundwater table substantially and the ecological balance has been adversely affected in vast areas.
The construction of Bangladesh's Teesta barrage began in 1979 for providing irrigation to crops on about 0.54 million (5.4 lakh) hectares.
The first phase of irrigation network, completed at a cost of Tk 9.70 billion (970 crore) in 1998, much after completion of the barrage, to provide irrigation facility to 0.11 million (1.1 lakh) hectares of land in 12 upazilas, due to water shortage, can't irrigate even a fraction of the area.
The 12 upazilas covered by the first phase of the project are Sadar, Gangachhara, Badarganj and Taraganj in Rangpur, Sadar, Taldhaka, Sayeedpur, Dimla and Kishoreganj in Nilphamari, and Bandar, Parbatipur and Khanshama in Dinajpur.
The WDB officials said there is a plan to bring another 24 upazilas of the districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Joypurhat and Bogra under the second phase of the project. If this plan can be implemented, an additional 0.569 million (5.69 lakh) metric tons of food-grains can be produced annually. Although the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), the work on it could not be completed due to unavailability of funds.
Completed major structural work of the project include 80 kilometers of flood dam, 74 kms of project road, 615 meters of barrage, 610 meters of flood bypass, 33.67 kms of main canal and 143 regulators.
Instead of usual 25-30 feet high water level in Teesta in Bangladesh in the dry season, one could during a recent visit see Teesta full of sandy shoals.
Local people as well as the WBD officials said that India's unilateral withdrawal of water in the dry season poses a serious threat to the property of irrigated cultivation in Bangladesh India's withdrawal has resulted in shortages on surface as well as ground water and in Bangladesh making it difficult for the farmers to go for cultivation of Irri and Boro crops in the dry seasons.
Courtesy: NewsNetwork