Teesta turns into stream

Piers of this large bridge over the Teesta river in Lalmonirhat stick out of the sand instead of the water as the river has almost dried up. Photo: Star

Bangladesh received one of the lowest flow of water at Teesta yesterday as the nation hopes for a breakthrough in the Teesta water sharing issue with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the city.

The water flow at the Teesta Barrage was only 165 cusec (cubic feet per second) yesterday afternoon, which was 355 cusec in the morning. 

“Probably it is the lowest level of the Teesta water I have seen in my life,” said an official of Bangladesh Water Development Board who measures the water level. 

Only 300 to 400 cusec water has been flowing from India this month while Bangladesh need at least 3,500 cusec during this period only for irrigation, said officials.

The Teesta irrigation project area is getting less than 10 percent of the water it needs to irrigate 60,500 hectares of cropland in 12 upazila of Nilphamari, Rangpur and Dinajpur.

The small amount of water flowing under a rail bridge there. Photo: Star

And whatever was flowing downstream from Gajoldoba Barrage in India was being held up at the Teesta Barrage and not more than 30 to 40 cusec was flowing, the officials said.

Before the Gajoldoba Barrage was built in 1973-1985, the average flow of the Teesta river used to be more than 5,000 cusec in the first week and second week of February.

Now the Teesta is just a narrow stream and for the last one month the depth has been below the knee, said Faridul Islam Feroz who lives 65 kilometres downstream of the Teesta Barrage at Nohali village of Gangachara upazila in Rangpur. 

“Tens of thousands of people living by the Teesta are entirely dependent on the river. Our suffering knows no bound as the river has dried up,” said Feroz.

There was no question of survival of any fish. The water level has gone down so much that even pumps cannot be used for irrigation, he told The Daily Star over the telephone.

Feroz, also the convener of the Teesta Bachao Andolon, a Bangladeshi platform fighting to get the equitable share of the Teesta water, said a dried up Teesta in the dry season causes severe erosion during the monsoon making people homeless.

Thousands of people, including boatmen and fisherman who depend on the river for their livelihoods, become jobless for eight to nine months a year, he said.

With the livelihoods of so many at stake, the nation looks at the visit of Mamata which could put an end to all the sufferings.

http://www.thedailystar.net/teesta-turns-into-stream-65869