Teesta Barrage Project: West Bengal push for two more canals

GBNEWS24DESK//

In a move that may raise more concerns in Dhaka, the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal on Friday took possession of about 1,000 acres of land proposing to dig two canals to channel water from the Teesta Barrage Project for irrigation.

Bangladesh is waiting for the Teesta water-sharing deal with India for more than a decade to solve the water scarcity in the northern parts of the country. New Delhi and Dhaka couldn’t clinch a pact to share the Teesta waters because of objections raised by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in 2011.

The move, ahead of panchayat polls and parliamentary elections in West Bengal, is aimed at helping bring more farms under irrigation in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts, reported out New Delhi correspondent.

The Jalpaiguri district administration on Friday transferred documents of 1,000 acres of land for the canals to the irrigation department in the presence of West Bengal Irrigation Minister Partha Bhowmik, reported Indian news outlet The Telegraph.

The land will help the administration create two canals on the left bank of the Teesta, an official of the state irrigation department told the Telegraph. Water from the Jaldhaka, another river which flows through the Jalpaiguri district, will be also diverted to the canals for irrigation.

According to the official, a 32km-long canal to draw water from the Teesta and the Jaldhaka will be dug till Changrabandha of Cooch Behar district. Another canal, which will have a length of 15km, will be built on the left bank of the Teesta, said The Telegraph citing a source in the irrigation department, he added.

The Teesta Barrage Project was launched in 1975 with a plan to irrigate 9.22 lakh hectares of agricultural land in north Bengal. The plan was to route water from the Teesta through canals on either bank of the river. On the way, the canals would be fed by other rivers which flow through the region.

The proposed two canals would be a big political message from the Mamata government to the northern part of West Bengal, our correspondent said.

Mamata’s Trinamool Congress is desperately trying to make a greater inroad politically by showing it cares for the farmers of the region ahead of the panchayat and parliamentary elections due in early 2024, he added.

If the proposed canals are built, it is certain to spark more anxiety in Dhaka over the availability of water downstream Teesta in the lean period.

A political observer pointed out that by extending the reach of the Teesta project, Mamata is trying to prove that north Bengal needs water from the river.