Rising Teesta waters after rain and upstream surge have submerged crops across char lands in Lalmonirhat, raising concerns among farmers despite river levels remaining below the official danger mark.
Water levels in the Teesta River rose slightly on Saturday after several days of steady rain and an upstream surge, submerging crops on river islands in northern Bangladesh, farmers said.
At 9:00 am, water at the Dalia point of the Teesta Barrage in Hatibandha, Lalmonirhat, the country’s largest irrigation project, was flowing 75cm below the danger level.
Saiful Arefin, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Lalmonirhat, said the rising water had submerged various crops on about 200 hectares of char land across five upazilas of the district. He said the damage was unlikely to be severe because water in the Teesta usually recedes quickly.
People living along the river and sources at the Bangladesh Water Development Board said the river had started rising slightly from early Saturday after days of continuous rain and a rush of hill water descending from upstream in India. They warned that if the water continues to rise in this way, more crops could go under water.
Because the Teesta flows through five upazilas of Lalmonirhat, even a slight increase in the river’s water level inundates riverside areas across all the district’s upazilas, according to local people and water board sources.
Farmer Akkas Ali of Char Goddimari said groundnut cultivated on two bighas of char land had gone under water after the river rose suddenly. He said the crops would be damaged if the water remained for long.
Farmer Anil Chandra of Char Rajpur said vegetables he had grown on the char had been submerged after the Teesta rose unexpectedly.
Farmer Forhad Ali of Char Votmari said paddy on two bighas of land had gone under water as the river swelled.
Nurul Islam, in charge of the Dalia control room at the Teesta Barrage, said water had increased slightly from early Saturday. At 9:00 am, he said, the river at the Dalia point was still flowing 75 centimetres below the danger mark.
Amitabh Chowdhury, executive engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board at Teesta Barrage, Dalia, said the river had risen slightly because of continuous rain and the upstream surge. However, he said, it was still flowing well below the danger level. He added that the increase in water had submerged crops on some char land.
