Teesta swells, BNP claims credit

A trickle in the Teesta has turned into a torrent, prompting senior BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to attribute the swell to the success of the party’s long march demanding a fair share of the river water.

Fakhrul, the party’s acting Secretary General, made this claim at a road show in Gaibandha at the end of the first day of the march on Tuesday.

The journey will end on Wednesday close to the Teesta Barrage at Gajoldoba near Nilphamari. The marchers will be back on the road early on Wednesday morning after an overnight halt at Rangpur.

The BNP leaders and activists had set off in a convoy of about a hundred cars – an even-paced motorcade that is being described as a long march – from Dhaka’s Uttara, passing through Gazipur, Tangail, Sirajganj, Bogra, Gaibandha and Palashbari, holding road-side rallies as they went.

“Last year, the Teesta used to have 25 cusecs of water. This season it has had just four cusecs. But we have heard that the flow rose to 16 cusecs today. We believe this has happened because of the long march. This is our initial success,” Fakhrul said.

He urged people to vote the BNP to power for the country to have its legitimate share of Teesta waters, saying that the present “kowtowing” government would not be able to negotiate with India.

He said the government had squandered its bargaining power by conceding India’s land transit demand before striking the Teesta deal.

He said the government must be forced to hold fresh national elections under a non-party government to bargain for Teesta waters.

The Teesta water sharing agreement was to have been signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit two years ago but the deal fell through because of objections raised by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.