Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud on Thursday said the government will not accept any project by neighbouring India that may be harmful to Bangladesh.”According to media reports, India has taken a move to interlink its rivers, But, I think, as per the agreements and joint communiqué signed between two the countries, India can’t go ahead with such a move which is detrimental to Bangladesh,” he told reporters on sidelines of a workshop in the capital.Bangladesh will not compromise with India over any project which may adversely affects the country, Anisul Islam said, referring to Bangladesh’s resort to international arbitration to resolve sea boundary dispute with India. He said, the Water Resources Ministry has prepared a letter and sent it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to forward it to the authorities concerned of India, seeking official explanation of its latest move to interlink rivers.On July 13, 2015, the Indian government announced that it would soon take up the task of connecting Teesta-Ganga-Manas-Sankosh covering three states-Assam, West Bengal and Bihar-and will approach the three states for their consent, moving forward with its mega plan of connecting rivers across the country.Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) organised the workshop at its conference room to review the progress of the projects taken in fiscal 2014-15. Speaking at the workshop, Anisul Islam asked the BWDB officials to bring pace in the works of the Water Board to achieve the goals set by the Ministry of Water Resources.He instructed project directors of the Water Development Board to submit progress reports on their respective projects to his office within the next seven days. State Minister for Water Resources Muhammad Nazrul Islam. Water Resources Secretary Dr Zafor Ahmed Khan and BWDB director general M Ismail Hossain were, among others, present at the workshop.
