The interim government in Bangladesh has asked a Chinese state-owned company to prepare a concept note on Teesta Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project by this December and a feasibility study on the proposed project by the end of 2026.
The development, in the form of an MoU between Bangladesh Water Development Board and PowerChina, assumes significance as it reveals the Muhammad Yunus regime’s preference for China over India on matters related to the transboundary river that originates in Sikkim and flows into Bay of Bengal in the neighbouring country.
“We have agreed to give China two years to complete the two tasks under the project,” Syeda Rizwana Hasan, environment adviser to Yunus, was quoted by The Daily Star.
Multiple sources in Bangladesh told this newspaper that officials of the Chinese construction and engineering major, which has executed mega projects in 100-odd countries, have already started field visits to districts like Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Kurigram, Bogura, Joypurhat and Gaibandha through which the Teesta flows in Bangladesh before merging with the Bay of Bengal.
A detailed roster of public hearings to assess the demands of the people living on the banks of the river — which remains dry in lean months and dreaded for regular flooding in the monsoon — is also being worked out, said a source. “The adviser said publicly that the Teesta project would be finalised after PowerChina is done with the two assignments... That’s a clear message about our government’s preference for China,” said a source in Dhaka.
Bangladesh has been in talks with China for a comprehensive river management plan — for purposes such as dredging, repairing and creation of embankments, reclaiming of land and reducing possibilities of floods — since 2016 as its efforts to work out a water sharing deal with India got stuck because of opposition from Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. During the tenure of now deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a non-binding agreement was also signed with PowerChina for the proposed project in 2016. There, however, has been no movement on the deal as Dhaka was wary of New Delhi’s concerns over Chinese involvement in a project near strategically important Chicken’s neck, also known as Siliguri corridor, a 20-22km strip of land that connects the northeast states to mainland India.
Last year, India added to Bangladesh’s diplomatic dilemma during Hasina’s visit to New Delhi when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government’s decision to send a technical team for conservation and management of Teesta.
“The present dispensation, however, does not seem to have concerns on balancing the interest of India... That’s why things are moving fast on the Chinese front,” said a source, before adding that the only concern for the cash-strapped government is how to generate funds for the $1 billion project.
At a time the Yunus government is saddled with the problem of dwindling foreign exchange reserves, which has forced the country to approach the World Bank and the IMF, China has reassured Bangladesh all possible help for the project. On Tuesday, Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, Yao Wen, said that Beijing is ready to assist the Yunus government on the Teesta river water management project before stressing that it should be implemented “as soon as possible” for the benefit and welfare of thousands of people living along the river.
The prod from the Chinese diplomat has come at a time when domestic political pressure on the Yunus government is mounting on delivering something concrete on the Teesta front. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main political force in the country after the collapse of the Awami League government last August, organised 48-hour continuous programmes on the banks of Teesta in Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts to demand the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan.
“Teesta water is our right. Today, we are deprived of our rights due to the unfriendly behaviour of the neighbouring country... We also want to have good relations with neighbouring countries, but that relationship will be in the interest of the country. If India does not give us fair rights to water, we will make alternative arrangements and go to the UN taking the people,” BNP chairperson Tarique Rahman said in a virtual address to lakhs of people, who had gathered on the banks of Teesta, on Tuesday.
