With heavy rain upstream and runoff from the hills easing, the Teesta has started to recede in Nilphamari, but the fear has not passed. As the water rose it advanced over farmland and, in places, up to the edges of homesteads. Seasonal vegetables, groundnut and maize have suffered extensive damage.

On the morning of Wednesday 5 August the Teesta was flowing 13 centimetres above the danger level, but the water began to fall from noon. From 3pm it was flowing only 1 centimetre above the danger level.

Local people on the banks of the Teesta complain that most of the embankments were built of sand and, not having been repaired for a long time, crack under slight pressure. They say they live in fear every monsoon, and warn that the situation could become far worse unless repairs are carried out quickly.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.