Teesta crosses danger level

At least 7,000 families were stranded on chars as the Teesta River flowed above the danger mark on Tuesday afternoon after India opened the floodgates of the Gajaldoba Barrage following heavy rainfall.

An onrush of water from upstream across the border turned the Teesta fierce overnight, causing riverbank erosion and damage to cropland.

‘The flood situation was created after India opened 32 gates of the Gajaldoba Barrage,’ said Rabiul Islam, executive engineer of the Rangpur Water Development Board.

He noted that the gates of the barrage in the neighbouring country had been opened at about 11:00pm on Monday.

To manage the sudden surge in water pressure, authorities opened all 44 gates of the Teesta Barrage in Bangladesh.

The move led to widespread flooding in low-lying riverside areas and triggered sudden riverbank erosion across four northern districts — Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Gaibandha.

He added that the surging water had swept away 17 houses in the past 24 hours.

The flash flood severely affected agriculture in the region, inundating riverside crops, including sweet pumpkins, paddy seedbeds and peanut fields, across multiple upazilas.

‘I cultivated peanuts on 50 acres of leased land on a Teesta char,’ said Laku Mia, a peanut farmer from the Kashiram area of Kaliganj in Lalmonirhat.

‘Due to waterlogging over the past few days, the peanuts have rotted and the plants are turning yellow. This has reduced the expected yield and increased the risk of losses,’ he said.

According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, the Teesta River rose one centimetre above the danger mark at the Dalia point at 3:00pm on Tuesday.

In a bulletin issued in the afternoon, the FFWC said that the Teesta was flowing above the danger level at Kaunia in Rangpur, while the Surma was flowing at the danger level at the sadar upazila in Sunamganj, the Kushiyara at Fenchuganj in Sylhet and the Someswari at Kalmakanda in Netrakona.

The FFWC also warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Bangladesh’s northern region and adjacent areas of India over the next five days, potentially causing temporary flooding in low-lying areas.