Staff Reporter:
Water Resources Minister Md. Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee yesterday said the government is working to establish safe, inclusive, sustainable and climate-resilient water management for future generations.
He expressed the government’s commitment to building a safe, prosperous and livable Bangladesh for all through collective efforts and partnerships.
The minister made the remarks while speaking as a special guest at a seminar titled “Equitable Socioeco-nomic Development and Achievement of SDG Goals 3, 5, 6 and 10” at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.
Planning Commission organized the seminar as part of a national conference on the roadmap for imple-menting a five-year strategic framework aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain attended the seminar as the chief guest with Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Professor Mustafizur Rahman in the chair.
Anee said Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world due to climate change.
Challenges such as floods, river erosion, cyclones, drought, waterlogging and salinity are making water resources management increasingly complex, he said.
He said the Padma Barrage has been approved for the betterment of the lives and livelihoods of people in the southwestern region, the welfare of agriculture, and economic transformation.
The minister expressed hope that the Teesta Master Plan would be approved soon once the opinions of experts are received.
Lawmakers Ana Minj, UK-based charity organization WaterAid Bangladesh director Partha Hifaz Sheikh, women right organization Naripokkho director Advocate Kamrun Nahar and UNICEF Bangla-desh Program Officer Saifur Rahman, also spoke.
