Tista Barrage, Lalmonirhat
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lalmonirhat District · Rangpur Division · তিস্তা ব্যারাজ

Tista Barrage travel guide

The barrage of the country's biggest irrigation project; the river, chars and sunsets.

🗓️ Best time to visitOctober–March; the sluice gates opening in the monsoon
⏱ How long it takes2 hours
💰 Estimated costFree

At a glance

Opened
1990
Length
About 615 m
Sluice gates
44
Location
Doani (Lalmonirhat) – Dalia (Nilphamari)

History and details

Work on the Tista Barrage project began in 1979 to irrigate North Bengal's drought-prone region, and the barrage opened in 1990. It is the country's biggest irrigation project; canals carry water to wide areas of Rangpur, Dinajpur and Nilphamari.

Because India has a barrage upstream at Gazoldoba on the Tista, which comes down from Sikkim, the flow here drops sharply in the dry season; sharing the Tista's water is a long-running issue between the two countries.

Visitors come to see both faces — the powerful rush of water when the gates open in the monsoon, and the huge sandbanks in the dry season. The barrage area has a landscaped Water Development Board park and rest house.

Things to do

  • See both sides of the Tista from the barrage
  • Take a boat to the Tista chars
  • Watch the sunset in the afternoon
  • Have a picnic in winter

How to get to Tista Barrage

At Doani in Hatibandha upazila (next to Dalia in Nilphamari).

Lalmonirhat is about 340 km from Dhaka; the journey takes 7–8 hours.

  • 🚌 By bus: Lalmonirhat buses from Mohakhali/Gabtoli, fare ৳800–900.
  • 🚆 By train: Lalmoni Express from Kamalapur, fare ৳500–1,400.

Where to stay

  • Water Development Board's Abosor rest house (with permission)

What to eat

Tista fish

Good to know

  • Check the rules on photography on the barrage
  • Take a boat to a Tista char

More to see nearby

  • Tista Barrage, Dalia end (Nilphamari)
  • Tin Bigha Corridor (50 km)
  • Hatibandha Bazar (10 km)

More places to visit in Lalmonirhat district

Location on the map