BAPA presented 14 recommendations on river restoration, floodplain connectivity and major water projects, while the government signalled openness to expert consultations and further review of the Teesta and Ganges barrage proposals.
Bangladesh’s Water Resources Minister Md Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie and State Minister Farhad Hossain Azad met leaders of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), or Bangladesh Environment Movement, on Monday to discuss the country’s river and water management, including the Teesta Mega Project and the proposed Ganges Barrage Project.
The meeting was held at 3:00 pm at the minister’s office in the Bangladesh Secretariat, the seat of the country’s government administration. During the discussion, BAPA presented its views on the condition of Bangladesh’s rivers, the government’s plans for addressing water-related challenges and the Teesta Mega Project and Ganges Barrage Project.
The BAPA delegation was led by its president, former Bangladesh Agricultural University professor Dr Nur Mohammad Talukdar. Other participants included vice presidents Khushi Kabir, a human rights activist, Mahidul Haque Khan and Professor Dr M. Shahidul Islam of the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Dhaka. Also attending were BAPA General Secretary Md Alamgir Kabir, Organising Secretary Mihir Biswas and Joint Secretaries Dr Halim Dad Khan, SM Mizanur Rahman and Khandakar Azizul Haque Moni.
At the start of the meeting, Talukdar introduced the delegation to the minister and outlined what he described as the overall state of the country’s rivers and water management.
BAPA told the ministers that large infrastructure projects had altered the shape and character of rivers and that sluice gates had obstructed their natural flow. The organisation also highlighted the current condition of the Fuljor and Karatoa rivers, encroachment and pollution in the Buriganga River, problems affecting fish, aquatic life and biodiversity in the Baral River and Chalan Beel, severe suffering in Bil Harina and Bhobodoh, what it described as the unnecessary construction of dams or polders on rivers, challenges facing the country’s haor wetlands and its views on the Teesta Mega Project and the Ganges Barrage Project.
During the meeting, the minister said, “BAPA is the country’s largest and most renowned environmental organisation. They have been working very efficiently to protect the country’s environment and rivers. We want to work together with BAPA. It is not possible for the government alone to protect the environment and rivers in any way.”
He also expressed interest in arranging discussions between government experts and BAPA experts on the Teesta Mega Project and the Ganges Barrage Project.
The minister said the government would consider relocating the permanent campus of Rabindra University instead of constructing it at the site that would block what BAPA described as the only outlet connecting the Padma, Jamuna and internal waterways of Chalan Beel. He also told the delegation that he planned to visit Bil Harina and Bhobodoh.
According to the press release, the minister further informed the BAPA representatives that he would raise the Teesta Mega Project and the Ganges Barrage Project at a Cabinet meeting.
At the end of the meeting, BAPA submitted a memorandum to the minister containing 14 recommendations.
The recommendations called on the government to adopt an open river policy and remove existing barriers preventing rivers from flowing into floodplains while ensuring no new obstructions are created.
BAPA also urged the government to convert coastal embankments under the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project (CEIP) into seasonal eight-month embankments to allow sediment-laden floodwater to enter polders during the monsoon, raising land levels through sediment deposition and reducing the risk of sea-level inundation.
The organisation recommended gradually converting inland polders into similar seasonal embankments to allow monsoon water to enter and later return to rivers, preventing waterlogging, including in Bhobodoh and other parts of southwestern Bangladesh.
Among its other proposals, BAPA called for removing barriers such as sluice gates, flap gates, regulators and inadequately sized bridges and culverts that obstruct river flows, restoring all rivers and water bodies according to CS maps and taking action against encroachers.
The memorandum also urged the completion of unfinished work to reopen the Baral River, restoration of rivers damaged by development projects including the Kohelia River in Maheshkhali, stronger measures to prevent rivers and water bodies from becoming dumping grounds for waste and efforts to eliminate pollution from rivers including the Sutang in Habiganj, the Buriganga and Turag in Dhaka, the Bakkhali in Cox’s Bazar and the Mayur in Khulna.
BAPA further recommended prioritising riverbank protection and stabilisation instead of constructing embankments along riverbanks, strengthening the National River Conservation Commission by granting it executive powers to combat encroachment and pollution and taking stronger measures to secure Bangladesh’s fair share of water from international rivers and prepare for negotiations with India on renewing the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty.
The memorandum also called for resolving the Teesta River crisis through a plan based on domestic expertise, technology, financing and open discussion rather than one prepared by a foreign company, with the participation of local residents and the wider public.
On the proposed Ganges or Padma Barrage Project, BAPA urged the government not to rush into a decision and instead allow broader national discussion while considering recommendations from different quarters. It also called for an investigation into why monsoon water from the Ganges, despite reaching a height of 12 to 14 metres beneath the Hardinge Bridge, had not flowed into the Gorai-Madhumati, Baral and other distributaries, and urged the Bangladesh Water Development Board to remove obstacles preventing such flows. According to the memorandum, experience from several years of regular monsoon flows into these distributaries would help support a more informed decision on the proposed project.
In its final recommendation, BAPA said it would support positive government initiatives in line with those proposals and remain ready to provide assistance within its capacity.
