Once a mighty force that breathed life into northern Bangladesh, the Teesta now lies eerily silent its once-shimmering waters replaced by cracked sand and fading memories of flow. What was once the lifeline for two crore people now gasps for survival, its currents lost and its banks crumbling.
Locals say the river that once symbolised abundance now survives only in fragments. It swells briefly during the monsoon, only to vanish into parched emptiness as winter nears leaving farmers and fishermen on its banks “dying with the river.”
By late October, the Teesta had already run dry, weeks before the start of the dry season. Data from the Water Development Board (WDB) show water flow at the barrage point averaging barely 17,000 cusecs in recent days, and falling fast.
Experts trace the crisis back to India’s Gajoldoba and Doani barrages, which have disrupted the Teesta’s natural course and diverted much of its flow through canals. Over the decades, the river’s once-mighty body has withered, leaving only dry sandbanks and stagnant pools where currents once roared.
Standing on its exposed bed today, locals speak of hearing “the sigh of a dying river.” The decline has crippled irrigation under the Teesta BarrageBangladesh’s largest irrigation project — with officials warning of severe challenges in the coming months.
Originating from Himalayan glaciers, the Teesta flows through Sikkim, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri before entering Bangladesh through Lalmonirhat, passing Nilphamari, Rangpur and Gaibandha to meet the Brahmaputra. Its fertile chars once yielded rice, jute, maize, sesame and vegetables that sustained northern livelihoods.
But since India built the Gajoldoba Barrage in 1983, the river has swung between extremes — drought in winter and destructive floods in monsoon. In the past decade, over 20,000 families have been displaced by erosion, with nearly 35 kilometres of riverbank devoured. Recently, a 350-metre stretch of the Teesta bridge protection embankment at Mahipur collapsed into the river.
In Kurigram’s Ulipur, more than 100 homes have already been lost, while over 50 families in Gangachara were displaced this year alone. Entire villages in Rajarhat now stand marooned.
For years, people have rallied under the slogan “Save Teesta, Save North Bengal.” Thousands joined recent human chains, torch processions and sit-ins across Rangpur division, demanding a long-delayed Teesta water-sharing deal with India and the full implementation of the Teesta Master Plan.
The Tk 12,000 crore master plan set to begin in January 2026 includes large-scale dredging, embankment repair and resettlement of char dwellers. The first phase will use Tk 6,700 crore in Chinese financing and Tk 2,450 crore from government funds.
“The government has already allocated Tk 2,450 crore for the first phase. It’s time for action, not promises,” said Teesta River Protection Movement coordinator and BNP organising secretary Asadul Habib Dulu.
Ahsan Habib, WDB’s superintending engineer in Rangpur, said water levels have been falling since mid-October due to heavy sedimentation, but assured there is still enough water for irrigation provided dredging begins soon.
River expert Tuhin Wadud warned that without scientific dredging, the north could one day “turn into a desert.” India’s unilateral water withdrawal, he said, has “killed the Teesta,” and saving it is now Bangladesh’s responsibility.
As the river fades into silence, so too do the hopes of millions who once built their lives around its rhythm waiting for the Teesta to flow again.
