Problems
The Teesta River is a major river in the Indian subcontinent, flowing through India and Bangladesh. It is a source of irrigation, fishing, and other livelihoods for millions living along its banks. However, in recent years, the river has been drying up, threatening the ecosystem, environment, ecology, and livelihoods of thousands of farmers living in the northern region of Bangladesh. The flow in the Teesta starts to dwindle in October, and by December, the river dries up. The flow should be over 5,000 cusecs to meet the irrigation needs, but Bangladesh has been getting only 1,200-1,500 cusecs during the dry season, which sometimes drops to as low as 200-300 cusecs.
Causes of lowering the water level in the Teesta River
One of the reasons for this is India’s withdrawal of water from the Teesta River. India has built an irrigation barrage on the Indian portion of the Teesta River at Jalpaiguri district’s Malbazar town. This is creating a major water diversion which has caused Lalmonirhat’s Teesta barrage irrigation area to dry up.
Consequences of the construction of an irrigation dam on the Teesta River
Thousands in northern Bangladesh districts, who have already been devastated by the Teesta River water control in upstream India, have begun to fear that they will endure more suffering as neighboring India plans to divert the joint Teesta River waters further. Teesta’s erosion also caused longstanding poverty in the northern region, popularly stigmatized as “monga,” said Islam, adding that the situation also led to internal migration as residents started losing their homes and agricultural lands across the river banks yearly. Continuous silting up of the riverbed, along with deposits of stones, pebbles, and heavy sand throughout the Teesta river course in Bangladesh, adversely affects navigation and irrigation for crop cultivation. Since the installment of the Gajoldoba Dam in India upstream of Teesta -- the river morphology has started to change drastically with enormous ecological and environmental effects. According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), due to the unavailability of water in the Teesta River, only 30 percent of the char land of around 20,000 hectares in Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Rangpur, and Gaibandha can be irrigated and that too using diesel-run water pumps. Teesta widens up to 8-10 km (5-6.2 mi) during the monsoon season and shrinks to less than 1 km (0.6 mi), becoming a desert in the dry season.
Gallery
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Timelines
2023
April 23
The livelihood of thousands of people living in the Teesta River basin areas was hit hard as the mighty river is drying up due to a lack of water. The irrigation department of the government of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal acquired around 1,000 acres of land to dig an additional two canals under the Teesta Barrage Project to draw water from the Teesta River for agricultural purposes.
2011
January 10
An Interim deal that was supposed to last for 15 years – gave India 42.5% and Bangladesh 37.5% of Teesta water.
1998
Bangladesh started the “Teesta Barrage” irrigation project (3 cropping seasons per year).
1984
According to the 1984 JRC, Bangladesh’s share increased based on the hydrological data.
1983
July 20
At the 25th JRC meeting, India and Bangladesh agreed on an ad hoc arrangement under which Bangladesh would receive 36 percent of the Teesta’s waters. However, Bangladesh has never received its share of the Teesta’s waters during the dry season. The environment began to change and loss of biodiversity in the northern districts when the neighboring country India constructed a barrage across the Teesta River at Gazaldoba, about 70km upstream of Bangladesh’s Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project at Dalia in Lalmonirhat's Hatibandha upazila.