Prime minister Tarique Rahman has informed the Jatiya Sangsad that technical and financial assessments are being carried out at various levels with a view to constructing an additional barrage on the River Teesta to store water during the dry season.

The information was provided in a written reply tabled in the Jatiya Sangsad during the question-and-answer session on Tuesday. Although the Prime Minister was not present in the House, responses to scheduled questions were submitted.

Rangpur-4 MP Akhter Hossen asked whether the government plans to adopt a special integrated master plan through the Prime Minister’s Office to implement major public-interest projects in the Teesta River basin and the Rangpur-4 constituency.

In response, the prime minister said the River Teesta was vital to the livelihoods of people in northern Bangladesh. He noted that reduced dry-season water flow due to upstream dams and other constraints was affecting agriculture, including the Teesta Irrigation Project, while excessive upstream rainfall during the monsoon often caused floods and riverbank erosion.

The PM said riverbank protection works covering 42.5 kilometres were under way in five Teesta basin districts at a cost of Tk 230 crore and were scheduled for completion this month. He added that 4.6 kilometres of riverbank protection works worth around Tk 24 crore were also being implemented in the Rangpur-4 constituency and were expected to significantly reduce erosion.

The prime minister said a survey for a sustainable and integrated development plan for the Teesta River had already been completed.

According to the survey report, the proposed Teesta Master Plan includes riverbank protection and river training works, dredging, flood-control embankments with roads, the construction and rehabilitation of groynes and spurs, and land reclamation and development initiatives.