Dhaka, Nov. 7 -- Silt removal operations at the country's largest irrigation facility, the Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project, have come to a near standstill due to an acute shortage of dredgers.
Every year, massive quantities of silt accumulate in the silt trap, but the absence of functional dredging equipment has now put the irrigation system at serious risk.
According to sources at the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), the mechanical division at the Dalia point had one operational dredger until 2017.
The machine became inoperative that year due to mechanical failure, and since then no new dredger has been procured. Between 2017 and 2025, neither the government nor development partners such as the Netherlands supplied any new d...