Important Facts For Prelims
Teesta River
- 23 Mar 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has opened a 360 feet long bailey suspension bridge over Teesta river in Munshithang, Sikkim.
- The construction was commenced in October 2019 under Project Swastik.
- The bridge will help the state tourism in growing and facilitate the movement of logistics for the Armed Forces deployed in the state.
Key Points
- Teesta river is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing through India and Bangladesh.
- It originates in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkim and flows to the south through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.
- Originally, the river continued southward to empty directly into the Padma River (main channel of Ganga in Bangladesh) but around 1787 the river changed its course to flow eastward to join the Jamuna river.
- The Teesta Barrage dam helps to provide irrigation for the plains between the upper Padma and the Jamuna.
- Teesta river water conflict is one of the most contentious issues between India and Bangladesh.
Border Roads Organization
- It was conceived and raised in 1960 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for coordinating the speedy development of a network of roads in the North and the North Eastern border regions of the country.
- It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.
- BRO is regarded as a symbol of nation-building, national integration and an inseparable component in maintaining the security and integrity of the country.
- The executive arm of the BRO, the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF), is a combined force consisting of members of the Army and GREF.
- It has diversified into a large spectrum of construction and development works comprising airfields, building projects, defence works and tunneling and has endeared itself to the people.
