Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday told Parliament that the feasibility study for implementing the Teesta Master Plan has already been completed.
He made the statement while replying to a starred question from Gaibandha-1 lawmaker Majedur Rahman during the question-answer session.
The Bangladesh Water Development Board conducted the study, he said.
“The report recommends dredging 110 kilometres of the Teesta River under the master plan,” he said.
He said the technical and financial aspects of the report are now being examined at different levels.
“Once the review is completed and the project is found technically viable, an implementation timeline will be fixed,” he said.
He said the Teesta is a fast-flowing river and excessive rainfall during the monsoon often causes flash floods and riverbank erosion.
Water flow drops sharply during the dry season and in many areas nearly reaches zero, he said. Heavy silt carried during the monsoon also raises the riverbed, causing the Teesta to split into multiple channels, he added.
The first 30 minutes of the parliamentary sitting, presided over by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, were allocated for the prime minister’s question time.
