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China's assistance for Bangladesh's river management: Good or bad?
China's approach to river management is fundamentally different from Bangladesh's. China has followed an aggressive commercial approach to its rivers, which has not always yielded positive results. Criticism of this approach is increasingly growing in China.
Nazrul Islam
Published: 08 Apr 2025, 17: 47
The issue of Chinese collaboration in Bangladesh's river management gained prominence during chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus' recent visit to China. There is no doubt about China's advancement in river management technology. Bangladesh's interest to benefit from China's experience and technology is also justified.
Chinese collaboration in river management in Bangladesh began in 2016, just before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Bangladesh. At that time, it was reported that under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China was ready to provide a loan of $11 billion.
Many took the opportunity to get involved in project development. As a result, discussions started between the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and a Chinese company, Power China. Following these discussions, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, stating that this company would develop a "Sustainable River Management Programme," including all of Bangladesh's major rivers, with priority given to the Jamuna River.
However, the previous government tried to use Chinese river-related cooperation to cover up its failure to secure Bangladesh's rightful share of the Teesta River from India. In that context, BWDB requested Power China to prioritise Teesta River instead of Jamuna River.
Accordingly, Power China developed the "Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project." Later, it was revealed that India had expressed its intention to implement this project. As a result, the then government was left in a dilemma.
During his visit to China, the chief adviser expressed the desire to implement the Teesta project through Chinese companies. Not only that, but during a meeting with China's minister of water resources, he requested China to provide Bangladesh with a 50-year master plan for river management.
This issue deserves serious consideration because past experience with foreign governments or companies developing master plans for Bangladesh's river management have not been promising.
2.
In the 1950s, at the recommendation of the Krug Commission, the United States' International Engineering Company (IECO) from San Francisco was tasked with developing a master plan for Bangladesh's water resources management. Based on this, IECO prepared a two-volume master plan in 1964.
The timeframe for this master plan was 20 years. However, the approach to river management initiated through this master plan has been largely followed in Bangladesh for nearly 60 years.
The approach that IECO promoted for river behaviour is officially called the "commercial approach." The specific form of this for the delta is the "embankment approach."
The main goal of this approach is to disconnect floodplains from riverbeds. To achieve this, numerous embankments, sluice gates, and other structures have been constructed throughout the country. (Detailed discussions on this can be found in two of my recently published books: Water Development in Bangladesh: Crisis of the Current Approach and Proposed Alternatives and Water Development in Bangladesh: Past, Present, and Future).
The results of implementing IECO's master plan are clearly evident: the country's river system is in disarray. Numerous rivers have disappeared, and the remaining ones are in critical condition. On one hand, riverbeds have been filled, and on the other, floodplains have deteriorated.
Many rivers have effectively been "killed" by completely enclosing them within embankments. One consequence of this river management approach is waterlogging, which is now spreading throughout Bangladesh's towns and villages.
An extreme form of the embankment approach is the polders, when the embankment forms a four-sided enclosure. Even before IECO's master plan, in the 1950s, a programme to construct polders was initiated on Bangladesh's coastline.
Just as we are now attracted to China for river management, earlier, the attraction was towards the Netherlands. There, land was reclaimed from the sea through polders to establish settlements.
Bangladesh did not need to reclaim land from the sea. Nevertheless, the Netherlands' "polder approach" was imposed on Bangladesh. However, despite both Bangladesh and the Netherlands being deltaic regions, the similarities are outweighed by the differences.
Whereas Bangladesh's Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers carry approximately 404 and 628 cubic kilometers of water annually, the main river of the Netherlands, the Rhine, has an annual flow of just 75 cubic kilometers. Additionally, Bangladesh's river flow is extremely seasonal, whereas the Rhine has no such seasonality. Most importantly, Bangladesh's rivers bring in nearly 115 million tonnes of sediment annually, while the Rhine brings only 3.4 million tonnes.
The main tasks for Bangladesh's river management are dealing with seasonal flow variations and ensuring proper sediment distribution. These issues are not relevant to the Netherlands.
This lack of understanding led to sediment not being able to reach the interior of the polders. As a result, the land in these polders has been gradually sinking, and in many cases, it has gone below sea level and continues to do so. In other words, foreign advice has pushed Bangladesh's coastal areas toward submersion.
Where Bangladesh's Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers carry approximately 404 and 628 cubic kilometers of water annually, the main river of the Netherlands, the Rhine, has an annual flow of just 75 cubic kilometers. Additionally, Bangladesh's river flow is extremely seasonal, whereas the Rhine has no such seasonality. Most importantly, Bangladesh's rivers bring in nearly 115 million tons of sediment annually, while the Rhine brings only 3.4 million tons.
The main tasks for Bangladesh's river management are dealing with seasonal flow variations and ensuring proper sediment distribution. These issues are not relevant to the Netherlands.
This lack of understanding led to sediment not being able to reach the interior of the polders. As a result, the land in these polders has been gradually sinking, and in many cases, it has gone below sea level and continues to do so. In other words, foreign advice has pushed Bangladesh's coastal areas toward submersion.
3.
China's two major rivers are the Yangtze in the south and the Yellow River (Huanghe) in the north. The average annual flow of the Yangtze River at the Datong survey station is approximately 27,500 cubic meters per second (cubic meters per second). This river is roughly equivalent to our Brahmaputra River, whose average annual flow at Bahadurabad is approximately 22,000 cubic meters per second.
However, compared to the joint flow of the Ganges and Jamuna rivers, the Yangtze has much lower flow. The amount of sediment carried by the Yangtze is less than half of what the Ganges-Jamuna system carries in Bangladesh. As a result, the sediment management issues of the Yangtze River are not comparable to those of Bangladesh.
Although the Yangtze River has seasonal flow variations, they are not as extreme as in Bangladesh, and the soil structure along its banks is different. Therefore, the bank erosion problems of the Yangtze are not as severe as in Bangladesh. The Yangtze is not a braided river like our Jamuna or Teesta rivers.
China has constructed many large dams on the Yangtze and its tributaries, including the "Three Gorges Dam," which is the largest in the world in terms of electricity generation capacity. As a result of these dams, sediment in the Yangtze River's post-dam sections has been drastically reduced (by some surveys, by up to 93 per cent).
This has increased erosion downstream and led to the degradation of estuaries and deltas. Various channelisation projects on the Yangtze River have caused significant disruptions to the many lakes connected to it.
The average annual flow of the Yellow River in the north is just 2,110 cubic meters per second, less than half of the Meghna River's flow. In the past, this river carried about 160 million tonnes of sediment annually.
China has constructed 4,850 kilometers of dams along both banks of this river (especially in flat areas), which has raised the riverbed height by as much as 30 feet in some areas. As a result, the Yellow River is now often referred to as the "Sky River." In the mountainous areas, about 20 major dams have been built, and as a result, most of the river's flow no longer reaches the sea, causing degradation in its estuaries and delta.
Notably, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are each about 3,915 miles and 3,395 miles long, respectively, with both entirely within China's borders. As a result, China has been able to control these rivers effectively, but Bangladesh cannot do the same.
Around 93 per cent of Bangladesh's river flow comes from outside the country's borders. Moreover, the Yangtze and Yellow rivers flow through only 25 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of flat areas, with the rest flowing through mountainous regions. Thus, China has been able to control the flow of these rivers through numerous dams in the mountainous areas, which is not possible for Bangladesh.
4.
Like the Netherlands, China's approach to river management is fundamentally different from Bangladesh's. China has followed an aggressive commercial approach to its rivers, which has not always yielded positive results. Criticism of this approach is increasingly growing in China.
The master plan for Bangladesh's Teesta River developed by Power China reflects this same aggressive commercial approach. The proposal to reduce the average width of the Teesta, a braided river, from approximately 3,000 meters to 816 meters raises concerns about its long-term sustainability.
Neither Power China nor BWDB has published any "feasibility report" on this project. Without such essential information, the recent public hearing on Power China's Teesta plan remains unclear in its objectives.
In all, Bangladesh's river system is unique, and therefore, it requires a different philosophy and approach. What is suitable for Bangladesh is a natural and open approach to river management, using domestic technology to gradually stabilise riverbanks.
Experience has shown that it is difficult for foreign experts to fully understand Bangladesh's specific conditions and needs. In fact, in the past, Western experts have failed dramatically in this regard. The Power China-developed Teesta project suggests that any foreign company-dependent initiative in Bangladesh's river management is unlikely to succeed.
However, it is regrettable that after 50 years of independence, Bangladesh still seeks foreign assistance for fundamental planning in sectors like rivers, energy, and education. While the country has made significant strides toward economic self-reliance, when will we become self-reliant in thinking and planning?
*Dr. Nazrul Islam is former head of UN Development Research and professor at the Asian Growth Research Institute.
*This article, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam
China's approach to river management is fundamentally different from Bangladesh's. China has followed an aggressive commercial approach to its rivers, which has not always yielded positive results. Criticism of this approach is increasingly growing in China.
Nazrul Islam
Published: 08 Apr 2025, 17: 47
The issue of Chinese collaboration in Bangladesh's river management gained prominence during chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus' recent visit to China. There is no doubt about China's advancement in river management technology. Bangladesh's interest to benefit from China's experience and technology is also justified.
Chinese collaboration in river management in Bangladesh began in 2016, just before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Bangladesh. At that time, it was reported that under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China was ready to provide a loan of $11 billion.
Many took the opportunity to get involved in project development. As a result, discussions started between the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and a Chinese company, Power China. Following these discussions, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, stating that this company would develop a "Sustainable River Management Programme," including all of Bangladesh's major rivers, with priority given to the Jamuna River.
However, the previous government tried to use Chinese river-related cooperation to cover up its failure to secure Bangladesh's rightful share of the Teesta River from India. In that context, BWDB requested Power China to prioritise Teesta River instead of Jamuna River.
Accordingly, Power China developed the "Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project." Later, it was revealed that India had expressed its intention to implement this project. As a result, the then government was left in a dilemma.
During his visit to China, the chief adviser expressed the desire to implement the Teesta project through Chinese companies. Not only that, but during a meeting with China's minister of water resources, he requested China to provide Bangladesh with a 50-year master plan for river management.
This issue deserves serious consideration because past experience with foreign governments or companies developing master plans for Bangladesh's river management have not been promising.
2.
In the 1950s, at the recommendation of the Krug Commission, the United States' International Engineering Company (IECO) from San Francisco was tasked with developing a master plan for Bangladesh's water resources management. Based on this, IECO prepared a two-volume master plan in 1964.
The timeframe for this master plan was 20 years. However, the approach to river management initiated through this master plan has been largely followed in Bangladesh for nearly 60 years.
The approach that IECO promoted for river behaviour is officially called the "commercial approach." The specific form of this for the delta is the "embankment approach."
The main goal of this approach is to disconnect floodplains from riverbeds. To achieve this, numerous embankments, sluice gates, and other structures have been constructed throughout the country. (Detailed discussions on this can be found in two of my recently published books: Water Development in Bangladesh: Crisis of the Current Approach and Proposed Alternatives and Water Development in Bangladesh: Past, Present, and Future).
The results of implementing IECO's master plan are clearly evident: the country's river system is in disarray. Numerous rivers have disappeared, and the remaining ones are in critical condition. On one hand, riverbeds have been filled, and on the other, floodplains have deteriorated.
Many rivers have effectively been "killed" by completely enclosing them within embankments. One consequence of this river management approach is waterlogging, which is now spreading throughout Bangladesh's towns and villages.
An extreme form of the embankment approach is the polders, when the embankment forms a four-sided enclosure. Even before IECO's master plan, in the 1950s, a programme to construct polders was initiated on Bangladesh's coastline.
Just as we are now attracted to China for river management, earlier, the attraction was towards the Netherlands. There, land was reclaimed from the sea through polders to establish settlements.
Bangladesh did not need to reclaim land from the sea. Nevertheless, the Netherlands' "polder approach" was imposed on Bangladesh. However, despite both Bangladesh and the Netherlands being deltaic regions, the similarities are outweighed by the differences.
Whereas Bangladesh's Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers carry approximately 404 and 628 cubic kilometers of water annually, the main river of the Netherlands, the Rhine, has an annual flow of just 75 cubic kilometers. Additionally, Bangladesh's river flow is extremely seasonal, whereas the Rhine has no such seasonality. Most importantly, Bangladesh's rivers bring in nearly 115 million tonnes of sediment annually, while the Rhine brings only 3.4 million tonnes.
The main tasks for Bangladesh's river management are dealing with seasonal flow variations and ensuring proper sediment distribution. These issues are not relevant to the Netherlands.
This lack of understanding led to sediment not being able to reach the interior of the polders. As a result, the land in these polders has been gradually sinking, and in many cases, it has gone below sea level and continues to do so. In other words, foreign advice has pushed Bangladesh's coastal areas toward submersion.
Where Bangladesh's Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers carry approximately 404 and 628 cubic kilometers of water annually, the main river of the Netherlands, the Rhine, has an annual flow of just 75 cubic kilometers. Additionally, Bangladesh's river flow is extremely seasonal, whereas the Rhine has no such seasonality. Most importantly, Bangladesh's rivers bring in nearly 115 million tons of sediment annually, while the Rhine brings only 3.4 million tons.
The main tasks for Bangladesh's river management are dealing with seasonal flow variations and ensuring proper sediment distribution. These issues are not relevant to the Netherlands.
This lack of understanding led to sediment not being able to reach the interior of the polders. As a result, the land in these polders has been gradually sinking, and in many cases, it has gone below sea level and continues to do so. In other words, foreign advice has pushed Bangladesh's coastal areas toward submersion.
3.
China's two major rivers are the Yangtze in the south and the Yellow River (Huanghe) in the north. The average annual flow of the Yangtze River at the Datong survey station is approximately 27,500 cubic meters per second (cubic meters per second). This river is roughly equivalent to our Brahmaputra River, whose average annual flow at Bahadurabad is approximately 22,000 cubic meters per second.
However, compared to the joint flow of the Ganges and Jamuna rivers, the Yangtze has much lower flow. The amount of sediment carried by the Yangtze is less than half of what the Ganges-Jamuna system carries in Bangladesh. As a result, the sediment management issues of the Yangtze River are not comparable to those of Bangladesh.
Although the Yangtze River has seasonal flow variations, they are not as extreme as in Bangladesh, and the soil structure along its banks is different. Therefore, the bank erosion problems of the Yangtze are not as severe as in Bangladesh. The Yangtze is not a braided river like our Jamuna or Teesta rivers.
China has constructed many large dams on the Yangtze and its tributaries, including the "Three Gorges Dam," which is the largest in the world in terms of electricity generation capacity. As a result of these dams, sediment in the Yangtze River's post-dam sections has been drastically reduced (by some surveys, by up to 93 per cent).
This has increased erosion downstream and led to the degradation of estuaries and deltas. Various channelisation projects on the Yangtze River have caused significant disruptions to the many lakes connected to it.
The average annual flow of the Yellow River in the north is just 2,110 cubic meters per second, less than half of the Meghna River's flow. In the past, this river carried about 160 million tonnes of sediment annually.
China has constructed 4,850 kilometers of dams along both banks of this river (especially in flat areas), which has raised the riverbed height by as much as 30 feet in some areas. As a result, the Yellow River is now often referred to as the "Sky River." In the mountainous areas, about 20 major dams have been built, and as a result, most of the river's flow no longer reaches the sea, causing degradation in its estuaries and delta.
Notably, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are each about 3,915 miles and 3,395 miles long, respectively, with both entirely within China's borders. As a result, China has been able to control these rivers effectively, but Bangladesh cannot do the same.
Around 93 per cent of Bangladesh's river flow comes from outside the country's borders. Moreover, the Yangtze and Yellow rivers flow through only 25 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of flat areas, with the rest flowing through mountainous regions. Thus, China has been able to control the flow of these rivers through numerous dams in the mountainous areas, which is not possible for Bangladesh.
4.
Like the Netherlands, China's approach to river management is fundamentally different from Bangladesh's. China has followed an aggressive commercial approach to its rivers, which has not always yielded positive results. Criticism of this approach is increasingly growing in China.
The master plan for Bangladesh's Teesta River developed by Power China reflects this same aggressive commercial approach. The proposal to reduce the average width of the Teesta, a braided river, from approximately 3,000 meters to 816 meters raises concerns about its long-term sustainability.
Neither Power China nor BWDB has published any "feasibility report" on this project. Without such essential information, the recent public hearing on Power China's Teesta plan remains unclear in its objectives.
In all, Bangladesh's river system is unique, and therefore, it requires a different philosophy and approach. What is suitable for Bangladesh is a natural and open approach to river management, using domestic technology to gradually stabilise riverbanks.
Experience has shown that it is difficult for foreign experts to fully understand Bangladesh's specific conditions and needs. In fact, in the past, Western experts have failed dramatically in this regard. The Power China-developed Teesta project suggests that any foreign company-dependent initiative in Bangladesh's river management is unlikely to succeed.
However, it is regrettable that after 50 years of independence, Bangladesh still seeks foreign assistance for fundamental planning in sectors like rivers, energy, and education. While the country has made significant strides toward economic self-reliance, when will we become self-reliant in thinking and planning?
*Dr. Nazrul Islam is former head of UN Development Research and professor at the Asian Growth Research Institute.
*This article, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam
