Govt mulls to construct barrage on Brahmaputra

The government of Bangladesh will construct a barrage on Brahmaputra river for the purpose of maintaining water flow of the river during dry season.

Water flow of the river during dry season is very low as China have built a dam in the upstream of the river, which reduces water flow in the downstream.

Feasibility study will be conducted very soon to construct the barrage, the sources of Water Resource Ministry said.

Padma, Meghna and Brahmaputra are the main rivers in Bangladesh, but about 7% of the rivers is flowing through the country as origin of the rivers in China or India.

The upstream countries built dams on the rivers and Bangladesh has limited control on the water flow.

Around 80% water of the rivers flows during monsoon which extends only 3-4 months and 20% water flows during the rest of the year.

Bangladesh needs to maintain water flow round the year for different reasons including agriculture, navigation and control flood, and that’s why the government will make a barrage on Brahmaputra.

The estimated cost of feasibility study and making technical design, roads and rail lines design and head regulator design is Tk.110 crore.

The project will be funded from own resources of the government as any foreign country or donor is not interested to fund here.

The barrage will be built near Bahadurabad Ghat, around 100 kilometers downstream from Bangladesh-India border.

Water Resource Minister Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud said, “We will conduct feasibility study to build a barrage on Brahmaputra river.”