Project to dredge 19 rivers in Haor regions soon: State Minister

River Delta exhibition

Dhaka, Mar 15 – The government will soon take a project to dredge 19 rivers in the Haor (Water body) regions, said State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque on Friday.

He said this while talking to reporters after visiting the Tufankhali Crops protection dam at Boram Haor in Derai Upazila under Sunamganj district, said a PID a handout.

The state minister said the project for building permanent dams or river excavation in the Haor areas is expensive. It takes a lot of time to implement these projects as well.

He said though there has been a global downturn for the last three years, the Prime Minister is approving the projects even amid the global recession. “The (development) works in Haor don’t remain halted. It continues,” he added.

“The project of dredging 19 rivers in Haor area will be taken up soon. Besides, another project involving Tk 600 crore is awaiting approval. If these are implemented, the problem regarding the dams (in the Haor regions) will be solved,” said Zaheed Farooque.

He, however, said it is not possible to take a sustainable project in a hasty manner to protect the Haor crops without feasibility survey as it needs to consider the biodiversity and ecology of this region.

Awami League MP Shamima Akter Khanam, Additional Secretary to the Water Resources Ministry Mallick Syed Mahbub and Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner Didar-e Alam, among others, were present.

This year, the Water Development Board has constructed 745-km crop protection dams in 43 Haors (water bodies) at a cost of Tk 203 crore. More than 4 lakh farmers of the district have planted Boro seedlings on 2.23 lakh hectares of land this season. - UNB