Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said the government is examining the technical and financial feasibility of constructing an additional barrage on the Teesta River to preserve water during dry season.
The information was provided in a written response tabled in the Jatiya Sangsad on Wednesday during the question-and-answer session of the second (budget) session of the 13th Parliament. The prime minister was not present, and his replies to scheduled questions were tabled in written form.
The issue was raised by Akhtar Hossain, Member of Parliament from Rangpur-4, who sought to know whether the Prime Minister's Office had any plan to adopt a comprehensive master plan for development of the historically underdeveloped Rangpur-4 constituency comprising Pirgachha and Kaunia upazilas.
He specifically referred to major projects aimed at improving living standards, preventing riverbank erosion, and establishing a second bridge or planned transport infrastructure over the Teesta.
In response, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said the Teesta River is critically important to the livelihoods of people in northern Bangladesh. However, due to upstream dams and other limitations, water flow in the river declines significantly during dry season, affecting agricultural activities, including the Teesta Irrigation Project.
Conversely, he notes, excessive rainfall upstream during the monsoon season often leads to sudden flooding and severe riverbank erosion along the Teesta basin.
The prime minister mentions that riverbank-protection works covering 42.5 kilometers are currently underway across five Teesta-basin districts -- Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Lalmonirhat -- at a cost of Tk 2.3 billion during the current and previous fiscal years. The projects are scheduled for completion this month.
He adds that within the Rangpur-4 constituency alone, riverbank-protection works covering 4.6 kilometers of the Teesta River are being implemented at a cost of nearly Tk 240 million and also expected to be completed this month.
"These measures will substantially mitigate riverbank erosion in the affected areas," the prime minister has said.
Tarique Rahman further informs parliament that a survey has already been completed as part of efforts to formulate a sustainable and integrated development plan centered on the northern-frontier river.
According to the survey report, the proposed Teesta Master Plan includes 110 kilometres of riverbank protection-and river-training works, 110 kilometres of river dredging, construction of 224 kilometres of flood-control embankments with roads on top, construction and rehabilitation of 67 groynes and spurs, and the recovery and development of 170 square kilometres of land.
The proposed barrage is expected to play a key role in improving irrigation capacity, ensuring water availability for agriculture, and supporting long-term water management in northern Bangladesh, where millions of people depend on the Teesta River for their livelihoods.
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