POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Oct 11, 2022 : China wants to implement the Teesta master plan. Chinese Ambassador Li Ziming visited the Teesta Barrage and said this on Sunday.
On October 10, Ambassador Li Jiming called on Mr. Md. Sabirul Islam, Divisional Commissioner of Rangpur, and Mr. Md. Asif Ahasan, Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur District. Ambassador Li also met with local officials and engineers of Bangladesh Water Development Board.
China wants to lend a billion dollars to this project as a sponsor. China will implement the Teesta Master Plan through its people with loans. This project will include river mining, char mining, construction of satellite cities on both sides, solar power projects, naval terminals and many other things.
But experts say the project will be a white elephant with Chinese loan money. Bangladesh will get stuck in the net of Chinese debt. The way China trapped Sri Lanka, Pakistan in debt net.
International water expert, Lock Haven University professor Dr. Md. Khalekuzzaman has been calling this project ambitious and anti-nature since the beginning. He thinks that if this project is implemented, more terrible disaster will occur in the northern region including Tistapar.
Experts say, canceling the claim of fair share of Teesta river water with India, if this master plan is taken internally, India’s unilateral control over Teesta will be recognized. India will no longer want to give water. It would be a suicidal decision.
China’s debt trap on the other hand gives India control of the Teesta. A powerful syndicate wants to collect China’s debt to Bangladesh. What could be the reason, everyone more or less knows what happens in projects in the name of river dredging.
Bangladeshi media personality Shankar Maitra told UNI, “This project needs more thought and research by the country’s scientists and experts. One must also wonder why China has stepped up to give loans to the unprofitable sector. We also know what happens in the name of river mining, how corruption happens in the name of protecting dams”.
He said, “I think India must give its fair share of Teesta water to Bangladesh. This demand cannot be withdrawn”.
Dhaka University Professor Dr. Major Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, BNCCO said, India is in great danger. The chicken neck in the Seven Sisters issue may be out of India’s hands he said, “ India has brought is own danger” .
He said, “India has brought its own danger.\
As a result of the tug of war between the Central Government of India and the provincial governments on the Teesta issue, Bangladesh has also withdrawn from the Teesta, while China has not missed this opportunity. Bangladesh has waited for a long time.
He said, “We do not digest water?” Is our production stopped? Our hilsa fish production has collapsed? Certainly not.
