Hundreds of members and supporters of the Teesta Protection Movement laid siege to the Rangpur deputy commissioner’s office on Sunday afternoon, pressing for the immediate commencement of the Teesta Mega Project within the tenure of the interim government and before the declaration of the national election schedule.
From the rally held there, organizers warned that if their demands were not met, they would announce a series of continuous programs that would effectively bring Rangpur and five other districts of the region to a standstill.
Earlier, despite the rain, hundreds of people from the riverbank areas gathered at the Education office premises in Rangpur’s Kachari Bazar area and marched towards the DC office, where they held the protest.
Addressing the gathering, Professor Asadul Habib Dulu, the chief coordinator of the Teesta Protection Movement and organizing secretary of the Rangpur divisional BNP, said the interim government had earlier announced that the first phase of the Teesta Mega Project would begin in January 2026. However, with the national election scheduled for February and election activities likely to begin by November, the start of the project could become uncertain.
“For this reason, we have demanded that the interim government begin the implementation of the project before the announcement of the election schedule,” he said.
Dulu added that the movement had already announced a three-phase program. As part of that, protest rallies were held on Sunday across the five districts of the Rangpur region. On October 9, demonstrations will be held in all upazilas of the region, followed by a torchlight procession and protest on October 16, along the 136km stretch surrounding the Teesta river.
Following the rally, a memorandum containing their demands was submitted to the deputy commissioner of Rangpur to be forwarded to the head of the interim government.
