As Bangladesh is the world’s largest delta, it needs to develop a delta plan incorporating various environmental and developmental aspects aiming to ensure sustainable economic growth through making long-term development visions, said hydrologists.
Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100 is being prepared by integrating delta-related sectors and all geographic regions of the country for developing a holistic plan, they told a workshop organized by Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP)-2100 Formulation Project in the BRAC Inn centre.
Deputy Team Leader of BDP-2100 project Giasuddin Chowdhury, Prof Umme Kulsum Navera of Department of Water Resources Engineering of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), seniors officials, water experts from several local and international organizations, among others, attended the workshop.
Giasuddin said, “The delta plan provides a vision, scenarios and strategies with interventions for the long term and investment options for the short term and medium term. It includes a delta vision, with a longer time horizon than usual in planning activities, to capture the long-term processes of climate change, economic changes and demographic changes.”
“Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP)-2100 Formulation Project was launched last year and we have made good progress on the works of project …. Hopefully we will able to complete formulation works of the project by September next year,” he added.
There is already high pressure on the available land and water resources in the delta, an official of BDP-2011 Formulation Project said, adding, “These pressures will increase due to population growth, economic development and climate change. There is a highly need within the Bangladesh delta to improve the living conditions through better water management and governance.”
As Bangladesh possesses unique and distinct geographical characters and it needs to take separate development planning for those regions, he said adding six hotspots of the country have been identified considering unique and separate geographic characters for preparing an effective Delta Plan for Bangladesh.
Six hotspots are coastal zone, barind regions, haor regions, Chittagonh Hill Tracts, riversand estuary and urban areas.
The project sources said there are 19 thematic areas of the Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP)-2100 Formulation Project and it is being prepared in the line with the thematic areas.
They said Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP)-2100 Formulation Project is being led by the General Economic Division (GED) of Bangladesh Planning Commission and is funded by the government of the Netherlands. Prof Dr. Jaap de Heer is team leader of the project.
