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Mostafiz urges Earth Summit to lessen environmental hazards

Dhaka hostage to waterflow from beyond borders
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 14: Foreign Minister ASM Mostafizur Rahman has drawn the attention of the Earth Summit here to environmental hazards faced by Bangladesh and said it is necessary that such problems are minimized for the survival of the country, reports BSS.
Addressing the summit, the Foreign Minister, who is leading the Bangladesh delegation to the conference, said Bangladesh,' a country of 54,000 sq miles with 108 million people and a per capita income of about US dollar 200, faces many a problem but many of these handicaps stem from the stresses on the environment.
Rahman referred to the environmental problems al the global scale and those faced at the national level and said these hazards were now posing as a major factor threatening the very survival of the planet.
He listed the factors responsible for this situation and called for concerted tfctions to
get rid of such condition. Only actions with practical ap proach underlying the urgency of the situation could save the globe from the alarming environmental degradation, the Foreign Minister said.
The Bangladesh delegation to the summit includes Minister for Forest and Environment Abdullah al-Noman.
Referring to the environmental problems of Bangladesh, the Foreign Minister said the country which forms a lower-riparian and deltaic portion of an immense watershed, is naturally vulnerable to the water quality and quantity that flows into it from beyond the borders upstream.
This vulnerability is exacerbated by the low terrain on the della on one hand and by saltwater encroachment on the other, he said and added that the resultant situation has alarming potentials for Bangladesh.
Global warming and consequent rise in the sea level is
another area of serious concern for the country because this would lead to a reduction of an already minimal landperson ratio and an increased pressure on the natural resources, the Foreign Minister pointed out.s
"In our case, recurrent natural calamities like floods, cyclones tidal surges and tornadoes result in immeasurable damage," he said and added poverty leads to perpetuation of environmental degradation as Illustrated by deforestation, destruction of wetlands and, inland fisheries, soil nutrient depletion and Inland salinity intrusion.'
Referring to government's response to this situation brought in by the stress in environment, Rahman said the government of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia Is alive to this and the Issues are addressed to the Fourth Five-Year Plan to neutralise the effects of these hazards.
The Foreign Minister listed control and prevention of envi ■
ronmcntal pollution and - degradation, related to soil, air and water — promotion of environment friendly activities tn the field of development — preservation, protection and development of natural ri sources bases, etc. as the oh Jectives to offset the environ mental consequences.and several steps were underway to meet the situation.
Terming the Earth Summit as a milestone in the history of the earth, he said a country like Bangladesh expects that the conference would conic out. among other matters, with mechanisms and agreement that would allow poorer developing countries access to appropriate environmentally sound technologies.
The Foreign Minister also drew the attention of the summit to the particular problems faced by the group of least developed countries and said It was necessary that the LDC's receive special treatment in dealing with their environmental problems.