CS Karim for integrated strategy to solve water problems

Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 17(BSS)- Adviser for Water Resources Dr. C. S. Karim today called for adopting an integrated strategy to resolve
the water problems in Bangladesh to achieve its millennium
development goal.

"If snows in the Himalayas melt it would not only affect
Bangladesh, but all the countries concerned will suffer heavily
on socio- economic realities", the adviser said as the chief
guest at a two-day dialogue on 'Prospect of the Rivers of the
Greater Himalayas- Bangladesh Perspective' at a local hotel.

The dialogue has been arranged jointly by the Water Resources
ministry and International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) with financial support of the World Bank, said a release
of the water resources ministry.

The adviser said "Our economy is related closely to our
rivers and culture". He said three major tans-boundary rivers
originated from the Himalaya have passed through Bangladesh to
the Bay of Bengal.

"We have to suffer from natural calamities like erosion at
rainy season and floods every year, since we do not have control
over these rivers", he told the dialogue while stressing on
improved relations with the neighbouring countries and developing
common strategies to resolve these problems.

Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Raja Debashish Roy was
the special guest at the function. It was chaired by secretary of
the water resources ministry Mohammad Ayub Mia.

Among others, Prof. Dr. Sajjadur Rashid of Dhaka University,
Mir Sajjad Hossain, member of the joint rivers commission, and
Dr.Ainun Nishat, Bangladesh representative of the International
Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), spoke on the occasion.

The dialogue began last July in Dubai and would hold a follow
up meeting in Singapore next month.