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Bangladesh losing elevation : US expert

Coastal embankment without drainage to cause disaster
A US engineering specialist on flooding in Bangladesh has called upon the experts worldwide to come forward with Innovative ways to manage the flood problem in the country, according a message received In Dhaka, reports BSS.
He expressed his flrm belief that the problem can be managed. according to a USIS press release.
Dr Peter Rogers, a Professor of Environmental Engineering at Harvard University while participating in the worldncl dialogue satellite Television discussion with experts In Dhaka, on October 23, suggested a number of measures to tackle the problem of frequent and devastating flooding in Bangladesh.
He supported the Bangladesh government policy lo provide low embankments against average types of flooding in the coastal areas. Tt is a relatively good one because it couples cyclone protection shelter areas with an early warning system," he said.
Dr Rogers stressed the need for a lowered agricultural population density along the most frequently flooded coastal areas of Bangladesh.
The US expert said a strategy including the Bangladesh government measures already In place, "coupled with pushing very hard In intensification in agriculture elsewhere, which will reduce some of the population pressures and make those problems less serious' was needed.
Questioned about how to handle the sediment buildup tn the channels, the Harvard University-based expert said he feared that the engineers who had built the embankments "just simply didn't think about that." He added that the Bangladeshi engineers can do better than that and suggested that "that's where research needs to be addressed."
Rogers explained that Bangladesh was formed from the sediments from the Himalayas that are 10,000-20,000 centimeters thick. Bangladesh Is losing elevation, he said and warned again, "I think the technical studies and the technical people have not addressed the issue. The major issue ts maintaining the elevation of the land."
He said that, rather than returning to such old theories as the building of giant sea walls, the government of Bangladesh should be encouraging extensive research into the question of how to prevent the "consolidation and settling" of the delta region, of how to get it to build itself up.
"1 see that there is a major
issue that is not being adequately addressed, and I would think that the people best capable of addressing this would in fact be the Bangladeshi scientists and engineers, people who have their own field laboratory right in front of their eyes." Rogers said.
The US expert further said "clearly, if the whole of Bangladesh was covered with embankments, it would be a different country. It would be a country that would be quite dangerous to live in because one would then always be faced with catastrophic failure of embankments, as opposed to the norma] flow or rise of flood waters."
Rogers said that most people do not realize that the coastal embankment project in Bangladesh is "the largest engineering project tn the
world....bigger (han the Great Wall of China, in terms of the amount of dirt that was moved."
But. he said, it has failings,: "If you build flood control works and do not provide drainage, you run into trouble.' He said that Bangladesh has very high amounts of rainfall, and that the huge pumping stations that would be required to keep the land dry are not present high-flood situation', gravity drainage will not work/ the expert said, adding that "the rivers are indeed, higher than the surrounding land."
Asked about the possibly threat to Bangladesh from seas rising as a result of the "Greenhouse effect" caused by pollution from developed countries, Rogers replied that would be 'the least" of Bangladesh's worries.