State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad said work on a pilot project under the Teesta Master Plan will begin within a short time. He made the announcement to journalists at Chilmari Port on Saturday afternoon after visiting river erosion-affected areas in Chilmari, Ulipur, Roumari and Rajibpur of Kurigram. A technical committee has started work on implementing the master plan, while advice is being sought from specialists from different countries.

Azad said the Teesta project is large and cannot be implemented in a single day. He noted that the government is only five months old and asked for some time. He said work on the master plan would soon start as a pilot project.

The minister also said two projects have been taken up in Kurigram for permanent embankment construction and river erosion prevention. Emergency work is already under way in nearly 100 erosion-affected locations in the district. He said no partisan consideration would be applied in efforts to prevent river erosion. Local lawmakers, district administration officials, a Water Development Board engineer and political leaders were present during the visit.