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Integrated water management a must to address waterlogging

Speakers tell discussion

Staff Correspondent
Speakers at a discussion yesterday stressed the need for setting up an integrated water management project to avert water-related hazards, including waterlogging problem.
Disintegrated water management projects have brought economic benefits to one section of the society, while those have caused economic hardships to another section, especially poor people due to lack of environmental and equity considerations, they added.
Titled 'Equity consideration in water management: A crying need for social justice in
Bangladesh,' the discussion was organised by Bangladesh Puribesh Andolon (Bapa) at BIP conference hall in the city.
The speakers placed a six-point demand, including giving importance to environmental preservation and the livelihood opportunities of vulnerable groups in water management project, appropriate regulations and guidelines to ensure social justice and ensuring public participation in decision- making.
Other demands include cancellation of leasing system of water bodies, ensuring proper waste management, eviction of grabbers from the river bank and compelling industry owners for setting up effluent treatment plant.
Prof Jahlr Uddin Chowdhury of Institute of Water and Flood Management at Buet called on the government to increase dependency on local experts instead of foreign consultants to formulate a water management planning.
He also called for introducing social science or social expectation course in all engineers' institutions to make the planners understand of our socio-economic reality.
Water control structures are to be made multi-functional to smooth agriculture, open water fisheries, navigation and ecosystem, he added.
Former director general of Warpo engineer Enamul Hoque criticised the government not to
make the water act draft public, putting a question to the govern ment that why it is going to hold the meeting at Gazipur instead of Warpo building at Dhaka? There must be another motive behind meeting.
He demanded steps to introduce licence system among the public to use the water bodies instead of leasing.
Presided over by Bapa Vice-President ASM Shahjahan, also former adviser to a caretaker government, die discussion was also addressed by Brotce CEO Sharmin Morshed, K a b o d a k R a k k h a Andolon President Rashidur Rahman Rashid and hydro geologist of Netherlands Remi Kempers.