Deputy Minister of Water Resources AKM Enamul Haque Shamim said that the Ministry of Water Resources is working relentlessly to bring river erosion down to zero in the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“The Awami League government is working to implement various initiatives to prevent floods, tidal surges and river erosion outside the Teesta master plan to alleviate the sufferings of the people of the Teesta chars,” he said. He made the remark while speaking at a day-long regional Char conference jointly organized by Souhardya and National Char Alliance (NCA) at RDRS hall room in Rangpur on Sunday. The minister said, “The country has changed; a project named Char Development and Settlement is underway. Land is being managed for the landless. People in the north will be protected from river erosion in the coming monsoon. Dredging is being done to keep the river navigable.”
Founder President of National Char Alliance (NCA) and former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman presided over the conference.
Member of Parliament Barrister Shamim Haider Patwari, Rangpur Divisional Local Government Director Ibrahim Khan, NCA Member Secretary Zahid Rahman, Chief of Party of Souhardya Mark Nasbak, Abdul Mannan Majumder, Country Director Ramesh Singh, Deputy Chief of Party Afrin Ranches, and Senior Director Mehrul Islam also spoke during this time.
The status of development of char areas, successes and possibilities, challenges and solutions, consensus of stakeholders in the development of char areas were discussed in detail at the seminar.