Thousands of people gathered along the riverbanks in Lalmonirhat today, staging a protest march to demand a fair allocation of Teesta River water and the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan.
A 48-hour sit-in organized by the Teesta River Protection Movement began at noon (18 February) at the Lalmonirhat railway bridge. The chief coordinator of the movement, Asadul Habib Dulu, also BNP’s central executive committee organizing secretary and former deputy minister, walked through Kaunia upazila in Rangpur, where the protesters of the movement were, before returning to the bridge, reciting numerous slogans like “Jago Bahey, Teesta Bachai”.
Throughout the monsoon, the river is known for its turbulent flow because of upstream water surges; in the dry season, it turns into a sterile, desert-like stretch, alone, its banks leaving thousands of land areas uncultivated. Protesters defended India for partial water use through the Gajoldoba Barrage upstream, releasing overwhelming water since the monsoon that floods Bangladesh’s Rangpur region and withholding it since the dry season, making its riverbed into a desert.
Several social and political organizations have long insisted on a fair share of Teesta water. On Monday (17 February), the 48-hour sit-in protest was inaugurated by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Two days long the protest continued, and at the end, Chief Coordinator of the movement Dulu reaffirmed that the protest will continue until the demand for a fair share of Teesta waters and the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan are met.
On the other hand, environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has stated that the timeline for arranging the Teesta Master Plan has been prolonged by two years, and it will be done taking into account the perspective of people from the riverside.
On Tuesday (18 February), after a ministry session at the Deputy Commissioners’ (DC) Conference, Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, We have said the plan should reflect the opinions of the people from the Teesta area regarding what should or shouldn’t be included. The process of gathering opinions will be carried out by the Ministry of Water Resources and the PWDB, with Power China present at every public hearing”. By December 2026, the institution for the plan, Power China, is tasked with submitting the plan to the government. Between October and December of this year, they will give a report to the government.
As reported by the agreement made in 2016, the master plan was supposed to be submitted much earlier, Rizwana said. “Now, the time for submitting the plan has been extended by another two years, with the deadline pushed to December 2026.”
Source: The Business Standard
