River Name: Teesta

1. General Information

1.1 Description

Teesta is a transboundary river in northwestern Bangladesh. It originates in the Chitamu Lake in Sikkim in the Himalayas, which is located at an altitude of about 5,330 meters above mean sea level. After its origin, it flows over Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar, enters Bangladesh through Dimla Upazila of Nilphamari district and falls into the Brahmaputra/Jamuna River in Sundarganj Upazila of Gaibandha district. Two mountain streams named Lacheng and Lachun are the sources of Teesta. These two streams meet at Chungthang in Sikkim. Many mountain streams of Chungthang and Singtam enrich Teesta. Among these, Rangnichu, Dikchu, Talangchu and Chakungchu are the main ones. Teesta descends to the plains near Sidak in Jalpaiguri district. Earlier, Teesta used to flow in three channels at Jalpaiguri, Karatoya in the east, Punarbhava in the west and Atrai in the middle. These three channels were collectively called Trisrota which later took the name Teesta. Out of these, Punarbhava joins Mahanda, Atrai joins Karatoya and the combined flow joins Padma near Jafarganj. During the heavy flood of 1787, Teesta changed its eastern course and joined Brahmaputra in a south-eastern direction. Along the course of the Teesta River, Shania Jan and Buri Teesta are connected to Goddimari Union and Dauabari Union of Hatibandha Upazila of Lalmonirhat District, respectively, and Manas (Rangpur) and Sati-Swarnamati-Bhateshwari Rivers are connected to Gokunda Union of Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila, and Burail River is connected to Tarapur Union of Sundarganj Upazila of Gaibandha District, and Mora Teesta River is connected to Daldaliya Union of Ulipur Upazila of Kurigram.

1.2 River Type

In terms of dimension: Medium

In terms of seasonality: Perennial

1.3 Planform

Braided

1.4 River Source/Entrance/Outfall

River/Lowland/Mountain/Sea	Mauza	Union	Upazila	District	Division	Latitude	Longitude
India	Jhar Singheshwar	Purba Chhatnai	Dimla	Nilphamari	Rangpur	26.28689858	88.91403965
Brahmaputra/Jamuna River	Lalchamar	Kapasia	Sundarganj	Gaibandha	Rangpur	25.49408624	89.66116416

1.5 Length

120 km

1.6 Width

Max: 5500 m, Avg: 3000 m, Min: 700 m

1.7 River Flowing Location

Gaibandha District: Sundarganj
Kurigram District: Rajarhat, Ulipur
Lalmonirhat District: Kaliganj, Lalmonirhat Sadar, Hatibandha, Aditmari, Patgram
Nilphamari District: Jaldhaka, Dimla
Rangpur District: Gangachara, Kaunia

1.8 Tributaries

Burail, Buri Teesta, Dhorer Nala, Kalibari, Manas (Rangpur), Mora Teesta (Kurigram), Sarnamati, Shania jan

1.9 Distributaries

Buri Teesta (Kurigram), Ghaghat, Mora Sati, Sorai

2. Hydrological Information

2.1 Tidal Effect

2.2 Flow Data

Refer to the document for detailed station-wise flow data.

2.3 Water Level

Refer to the document for detailed station-wise water levels.

2.4 Catchment Area

668 km²

2.5 Bank Overtopping During Medium Flood

3. Morphological Information

3.1 Physiographic Unit

Active Brahmaputra-Jamuna Floodplain, Active Tista Floodplain, Teesta Meander Floodplain

3.2 Terrain Slope

18 cm/km

4. Water Uses

No specific irrigation or flood control projects listed.

5. Ecological Information

5.1 Ecologically Critical Area (ECA)

Not included in the list of Department of Environment (DoE)