BSS, Rangpur
Teesta Barrage Project (TBP), the country's biggest irrigation facility provider, has almost no water now to provide through its canal systems to the growing Boro fields in its command area in greater Rangpur and Dinajpur.
The situation has worsened further this year than anytime in recent pasts as a result of complete drying up of the 'mighty' Teesta due to unilateral withdrawal of water by the neighbouring country in its upstream and abnormal rates of ongoing climate changes.
As a result, the farmers are facing the worst ever situation this year just ahead of the peak of current dry season as the flow of water has become very thin in the midstream of Teesta, creating huge concern to the future purposes of the giant TBP in the region.
Side by side, officials of the Bangladesh Water Development Board today told BSS that the overall ecology, environment and bio- diversity in the region are also facing a formidable threat due to the serious scarcity of water in the Teesta. They are also apprehending acute irrigation problems in the TBP command area as the farmers are not getting the required quantity of irrigation waters from the TBP's canals that have caused concerns to the related departments in making Boro farming successful.
Besides the river itself, officials and farmers said, the TBP's primary, secondary and tertiary canals have already dried up at most places helping huge sandy shoals and chars to emerge in the downward mainstream from the Gozaldoba Barrage in India.
According to the WDB officials, construction of the project's first phase began in 1983 and completed on June 30, 1998 at a cost of Taka 968 crore with a target of bringing a total of 1,11,406 hectares of lands under irrigation facilities in 12 upazilas of Rangpur, Nilphamari and Dinajpur.
But, they said, the neighbouring country put its Gozaldoba Barrage in operation much earlier than the TBP on the river Teesta, about 65 kms into its territory that apparently squeezed the river's flow to the downstream in Bangladesh.
As a result, the TBP started suffering from severe crisis in the availability of water since its commissioning in 1998 and could never bring its targeted lands under Boro and Rabi farming so far.
The senior WDB officials said, at least 10,000 cusecs of water is required to keep the TBP operative for providing irrigation facilities to only 60,000 hectares of lands, about half of the first-phase targeted land area, in the present command area.
Unfortunately, we are now getting the lowest ever flow with only 400 to 600 cusecs and sometimes up to 800 cusecs, not at all sufficient to save the river itself from being drying up, WDB executive engineer Atiqur Rahman told BSS on Saturday.
Officials said that the two countries reached an understanding in 1996 to use the Teesta's 40 percent water by India, 35 percent by Bangladesh and the rest to be released for normal flow of the river during the dry season until reaching a full agreement between the two neighbours in future.
"But we have never got even 10 percent of the total water flow against 35 percent as per the understanding of 1996," officials said adding that the situation further worsened during the Rabi crop farming this year.
The WDB officials said, the second phase work of the TBP involving Taka 1,167 crore are progressing amid a future uncertainty due to the absence of an agreement between the two neighbouring countries on just share of the Teesta water for Bangladesh.
Under the second phase of the TBP, the present command area of the giant project is to be expanded to bring another 4,28,594 hectares of lands under its irrigation facilities in 24 more upazilas of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra and Joypurhat districts.
If Bangladesh gets just share of the Teesta water under a treaty with India, a total of 5,40,000 hectares land could easily be brought under the TBP's command area to produce an additional 17 lakh tonnes of rice alone annually in the area, experts said.
The experts favoured an early treaty between Bangladesh and India on sharing of the Teesta water to keep the giant TBP operational and the river itself alive in greater interests of increased agri-production and protection of the bio-diversity in the region.
Teesta Barrage Project (TBP), the country's biggest irrigation facility provider, has almost no water now to provide through its canal systems to the growing Boro fields in its command area in greater Rangpur and Dinajpur.
The situation has worsened further this year than anytime in recent pasts as a result of complete drying up of the 'mighty' Teesta due to unilateral withdrawal of water by the neighbouring country in its upstream and abnormal rates of ongoing climate changes.
As a result, the farmers are facing the worst ever situation this year just ahead of the peak of current dry season as the flow of water has become very thin in the midstream of Teesta, creating huge concern to the future purposes of the giant TBP in the region.
Side by side, officials of the Bangladesh Water Development Board today told BSS that the overall ecology, environment and bio- diversity in the region are also facing a formidable threat due to the serious scarcity of water in the Teesta. They are also apprehending acute irrigation problems in the TBP command area as the farmers are not getting the required quantity of irrigation waters from the TBP's canals that have caused concerns to the related departments in making Boro farming successful.
Besides the river itself, officials and farmers said, the TBP's primary, secondary and tertiary canals have already dried up at most places helping huge sandy shoals and chars to emerge in the downward mainstream from the Gozaldoba Barrage in India.
According to the WDB officials, construction of the project's first phase began in 1983 and completed on June 30, 1998 at a cost of Taka 968 crore with a target of bringing a total of 1,11,406 hectares of lands under irrigation facilities in 12 upazilas of Rangpur, Nilphamari and Dinajpur.
But, they said, the neighbouring country put its Gozaldoba Barrage in operation much earlier than the TBP on the river Teesta, about 65 kms into its territory that apparently squeezed the river's flow to the downstream in Bangladesh.
As a result, the TBP started suffering from severe crisis in the availability of water since its commissioning in 1998 and could never bring its targeted lands under Boro and Rabi farming so far.
The senior WDB officials said, at least 10,000 cusecs of water is required to keep the TBP operative for providing irrigation facilities to only 60,000 hectares of lands, about half of the first-phase targeted land area, in the present command area.
Unfortunately, we are now getting the lowest ever flow with only 400 to 600 cusecs and sometimes up to 800 cusecs, not at all sufficient to save the river itself from being drying up, WDB executive engineer Atiqur Rahman told BSS on Saturday.
Officials said that the two countries reached an understanding in 1996 to use the Teesta's 40 percent water by India, 35 percent by Bangladesh and the rest to be released for normal flow of the river during the dry season until reaching a full agreement between the two neighbours in future.
"But we have never got even 10 percent of the total water flow against 35 percent as per the understanding of 1996," officials said adding that the situation further worsened during the Rabi crop farming this year.
The WDB officials said, the second phase work of the TBP involving Taka 1,167 crore are progressing amid a future uncertainty due to the absence of an agreement between the two neighbouring countries on just share of the Teesta water for Bangladesh.
Under the second phase of the TBP, the present command area of the giant project is to be expanded to bring another 4,28,594 hectares of lands under its irrigation facilities in 24 more upazilas of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra and Joypurhat districts.
If Bangladesh gets just share of the Teesta water under a treaty with India, a total of 5,40,000 hectares land could easily be brought under the TBP's command area to produce an additional 17 lakh tonnes of rice alone annually in the area, experts said.
The experts favoured an early treaty between Bangladesh and India on sharing of the Teesta water to keep the giant TBP operational and the river itself alive in greater interests of increased agri-production and protection of the bio-diversity in the region.
