Flash Flood

Teesta Disaster

Articles October 3, 2025

Lest We Forget – The Teesta Disaster, 4 October 2023

The October 2023 Teesta Floods and the acronym GLOF are not going to be easily erased from our memories, especially when it rains in the first week of October. Neither is the scarring of the landscape and the river flowing alongside houses, roads and highways going to heal overnight, considering very little was done for the rehabilitation of the landscape. What has faded is the much needed national and mainstream media focus on the issue and dialogue for rehabilitation and resilience building. As a region we have to ask the question, are we left to live with the impacts of the Teesta Disaster 2023 or are we going to learn from it and build back better?

The Dam

Upendra October 6, 2023

The Dam and The Damned

Teesta has massive siltation level, thus it is certain that the siltation level of the river will raise staggeringly with the construction of a series of dams and the sediment load will be trapped within the reservoirs, reducing their production capacity. This, in turn, could compel dam managers to release water during heavy rainfall, causing sudden flash floods downstream. Further, the NHPC has failed to undertake the study on the cascading effects of Dams (i.e. in case of dam breaking at the top what will happen to subsequent dams), which is likely to occur in coming days.