Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury yesterday said the government has a firm position over realising compensation from the developed nations responsible for climate change already affecting Bangladesh and low-lying countries.

“They (developed countries) must compensate adequately for the damage caused by the climate change. It can't be that in a global village we will be floating on water and they will be safe,” said the minister.

She was addressing a seminar on 'Climate change, sea level rise and facing the challenge: the Netherlands and

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BDR jawan, cook die

Staff Correspondent

Another Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) man died yesterday at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) raising the death toll to 54 in separate incidents since the mutinyon February 25-26.

The deceased, Rezaul Karim, 45, a havilder of Rifles Battalion-44 at Pilkhana, was an accused in the BDR mutiny case. He was undergoing treatment at the BSMMU under jail custody since November 24 and died in the morning.

His family members alleged that tortures during remand period caused his

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other experiences". The Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) organised it in its auditorium in the capital.

State Minister for Water Rijsoujc^

said 19 coastal districts of the country would be affected massively because of the climatechange.

The developed countries can rehabilitate the climate refugees by providing jobs in their countries, he said adding the government will have to increase heights of.the embankments in the coastal districts, which requires a huge amount of money.

Use of river sediments in building embankments and roads can save both the rivers and farmland and help maintain underground water level, the agriculture minister said.

“Try to use sediments of the canals and rivers in constructing roads or embankments,” she told engineers, adding use of too much underground water for irrigation may lead to desertification of the northern

region. She rather insisted on surface irrigation.

The government had been trying to introduce drought-tolerant varieties of rice and wheat, the agriculture minister sbnsfnt it xwioiq

Referring to an earlier failed effort to attract brick kiln owners to using sediments of the River Ichhamati in Satkhira, she said, "On Indian part of the same river, there are brickfields that use river sediments."

Building embankment with soil of the cropland was an idea of Pakistani citizen Azam Khan in pre-independence era, she said lamenting that still nobody think of using river sediment to build embankments.

"Our food minister went to Koira in Satkhira after the cyclone Aila hit the area, but fearing public wrath, no engineer dared to go with him,” Matia Chowdhury said.

Professor Dano Roelvink of Coastal Engineering and Port Development, IEB President Prof SM Nazrul Islam, among others, addressed the seminar.