Why Teesta Master Plan, TRCMRP, should be multilateral

It seems that the Bangladesh government has finally taken a few steps forward on the path of implementing the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP) with Chinese assistance. In particular, it has become clear through Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s recent visit to Beijing, China.

We have noticed that there was a lot of confusion about the Teesta Master Plan from the very beginning. The Awami League government that was ousted from power in a mass uprising after three consecutive terms, the interim government formed followed by the mass uprising, and the BNP government that won the 13th National Parliament election—all of them appeared stuck in the same kind of dilemma as in Sudhindranath Dutta’s ‘Swaswati’ poem, ‘dilemma of uttering the one word’. Perhaps this time that dilemma has been shaken off.

The Joint Declaration issued after the official meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during the visit held on June 22 to June 26 states in its Article 8: “The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in such areas as integrated  water resources management, water resources planning, hydrological forecasting, flood prevention and disaster reduction, and river dredging, and related technology sharing. The Chinese side will provide support and help within its capacity to the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP), and support experts from both countries in expediting the feasibility study of the project and relevant work (Chinese Foreign Ministry website).”

After returning from the visit, the Prime Minister, while participating in the budget discussion in the National Parliament, announced the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan ‘at any cost’. Describing the project as a “national priority”, he said that the project would be implemented to ensure the country’s water security, support agriculture and improve the livelihoods of the people of the northern region of Bangladesh (Daily Samakal, June 30, 2026).

The question is, how did the Teesta Master Plan reach this stage? After nearly six decades of long negotiations, the ‘fully prepared’ agreement for signing in September 2011 was stalled mainly because of the opposition of the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. At the end of Sheikh Hasina’s three consecutive terms, Bangladesh took the initiative to implement the Teesta Master Plan with Chinese financing and technical aid as an ‘alternative arrangement’. 

That move by Bangladesh moved India too finally. Article 6 of the Joint Statement of the last summit between Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi held in New Delhi on June 21–22, 2024 stated: “As part of our development cooperation, we will also undertake conservation and management of Teesta River inside Bangladesh with Indian assistance within a mutually agreed time frame (Indian Ministry of External Affairs website).”

The interim government formed after the fall of Sheikh Hasina in the July Uprising again moved forward with the implementation of the TRCMRP with the assistance of China. During the visit of the then Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to Beijing on April 28, 2025, Article 6 of the Joint Declaration confirming the “re-entry of China” stated: “The Bangladeshi side welcomes Chinese companies to participate in the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP). The two sides agreed to make concerted efforts to tackle climate change and tap the potential for blue economy cooperation.”

After that visit, demands began to emerge from the Rangpur region, regardless of party affiliation, that the TRCMRP should be implemented before the national elections. At that time, I said in an article, “Despite the goodwill of the interim government and the keen interest of the people of Rangpur, the ball of the TRCMRP is now in China’s court. On the other hand, China wants to return the ball to the elected government in Bangladesh. Whatever the field-level leaders say, the political parties contesting for power in the next elections will certainly not want to miss the opportunity to lay the foundation stone of this mega project in exchange for just a few months of waiting (Daily Samakal, October 26, 2025).”

In reality, that is what happened. The question now is, what should be done now that the implementation of the TRCMRP with China’s help has been largely finalised? It is clear from the joint announcement by the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and China that the feasibility will now be re-examined and local experts will be involved with the project. 

Two feasibility studies on TRCMRP were completed in June 2019 and July 2023. There were many questions about those two studies. In addition, the 55–60 experts involved in the study were all Chinese citizens. We raised the question why there were no Bangladeshi experts. However, new studies are being conducted and there is talk of involving local experts in them.

Apart from this, at least four more issues need to be confirmed now. First, it is known to all that the crown crisis of the Teesta River is erosion. The main issue of any plan or master plan should be river management to prevent erosion. However, while implementing the master plan, the ecological integrity of the Teesta must be upheld at any cost. In this case, local, affordable, environmentally friendly, sustainable technologies like Bamboo Bandalling should be used to prevent river erosion and protect navigability.

Secondly, to avoid geopolitical risks, the TRCMRP must be multilateral. In this case, apart from China and India, parties like the Netherlands, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and JICA should be engaged. In addition to China’s financing and water assurance from India, the World Bank, the ADB and JICA will ensure institutional environmental guidelines, and the Netherlands can provide world-class technical excellence.

Third and most importantly, the TRCMRP documents should be made public, even if it is late. The implementation of such a large project does not only require public opinion; there should be an open discussion on the documents at the local and national levels, so that the public can provide ‘informed’ opinions. And the implementation process of the project, and even those who disagree with its necessity, should be discussed. Because everyone wants to prevent the erosion in the Teesta River and support its environmental and socio-economic development despite having differences in the way of thinking and action.

Fourthly, it should not be forgotten that the Teesta is probably the most complex transboundary river in the world; there are not only two large barrages across the border, Dalia Barrage in Bangladesh and Gajoldoba Barrage in West Bengal of India; there are also dozens of dams in the state of Sikkim. Consequently, in order to implement any master plan, Bangladesh’s riparian rights on the Teesta have to be established through a bilateral agreement with India and international safeguards like UN Water Convention 1992 and UN Watercourses Convention 1997. Because, the implementation of the TRCMRP will have to ensure the availability of water from upstream during the dry season.

It is true that India has practically hit itself in the foot by keeping the Teesta water-sharing issue hanging since 2011. This is now being felt even in Delhi. Dr. Tara Kartha, the former director of the country’s National Security Council Secretariat, recently said in an article that despite the appointment of a high-ranking political high commissioner in Dhaka, Teesta water has already become quite murky for India. And the impolitic ‘push-in’ policy of the new West Bengal government has played a pivotal role in that case.

If India wants ‘damage control’ now, she writes: “It might be time to take Bangladesh experts on board to study the Ganges and its myriad issues and strike a partnership to get the best deal for the mighty river and its subsystems, for everyone's sake. At the same time, offer a generous package for the Teesta project (NDTV,  July 2, 2026). ”

According to Tara Kartha, ‘It’s never too late’. But if one looks at this issue from Dhaka, it is already too late. A lot of water has flowed through the dry bed of the Teesta.

Sheikh Rokon: Writer and River Researcher; Secretary General, Riverine People

skrokon@gmail.com

The article was originally published in the online Bengali edition of The Daily Samakal and has been rewritten for the English version by Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Assistant News Editor