Teesta River erosion control work to begin in mid-March

Teesta bank erosion devoured homes in Lalmonirhat in the last wet season.

Rangpur, February 9: Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser for Water Resources and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has said that the erosion control work of the 20-kilometer area that is most affected by erosion out of the 45-kilometer erosion-prone area on both banks of the Teesta will begin in mid-March. The erosion control work of the remaining part will also be started in phases. She said that a working group will be formed to supervise the erosion control work in which there will be one student representative from each of the five erosion-prone districts and one local person from each of the erosion-prone areas. She said that this will be done to ensure accountability and transparency.

The Water Resources Adviser said these things while speaking as the chief guest at a public hearing titled 'What to do about Teesta' in the area adjacent to the Teesta Rail Bridge in Kaunia, Rangpur today.

The adviser said, the Teesta Master Plan will be implemented with the opinions of the people of Teesta. The Water Development Board will not finalize any master plan agreement with China without the opinions of the people of Teesta. Locals will be involved in the design and implementation of the plan of the Water Development Board. She also said, we have started the journey on the road to solving the problem. This journey will continue rapidly and it will continue with you.

In his speech as a special guest at the public hearing, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan said that cold storage will be set up in different places in North Bengal so that farmers get fair prices for their produce.

In the public hearing chaired by Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Md. Rabiul Faisal, Northern University Professor Dr. Atiq Mojahid, Citizens Committee Akhtar Hossain, Abu Sayeed Lyon, and others also spoke at the public hearing. Also present were Director General of the Water Development Board Engineer AKM Tahmidul Islam, Chief Engineer of the Water Development Board Northern Zone Mahbubur Rahman, Rangpur Superintendent of Police Md. Abu Saim and senior officials of the Water Development Board. - PID Handout