[🇧🇩] Water & River Management of Bangladesh

Saif · Jun 24, 2025

Bangladesh becomes 1st South Asian country to join UN Water Convention

Bangladesh has officially acceded to the UN Water Convention, becoming the first country in South Asia and the 56th globally to join the treaty.

en.prothomalo.com

Bangladesh becomes 1st South Asian country to join UN Water Convention

UNB Dhaka
Published: 24 Jun 2025, 21: 59

The United Nations logo Reuters file photo

Bangladesh has officially acceded to the UN Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention), becoming the first country in South Asia and the 56th globally to join the treaty.

The UN Water Convention offers a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to foster cooperation over shared surface and groundwater resources.

Environment, climate change and water resources adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said “Accession to the UN Water Convention is a landmark step for Bangladesh. Climate change, growing populations, and rising water demand require enhanced transboundary cooperation. The Convention will support us in developing more effective and inclusive water policies to ensure long-term water security.”

Bangladesh has longstanding bilateral water agreements and institutions including the Joint Rivers Commission and the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India, and maintains cooperation with Nepal, China, and Bhutan.

Bangladesh has actively engaged with the Convention since 2012 and participated in its 10th Meeting of the Parties held in Slovenia in 2024.

Tatiana Molcean, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), welcomed Bangladesh’s accession, saying, “This is a significant move for South Asia. The Convention is a critical instrument for strengthening cross-border water cooperation in a time of increasing climate pressure.”

Sonja Koeppel, Secretary to the UN Water Convention, congratulated Bangladesh and encouraged other South Asian nations and UN member states to join.

She reaffirmed the UN system’s support for Convention implementation, particularly in the lead-up to the next UN Water Conference, to be held from 2 to 4 December 2026 in the United Arab Emirates.

UN Secretary-Generel António Guterres has called upon all UN member states to join and implement Convention.

Saif · Jul 21, 2025

Chinese hydro-power project won’t affect downstream countries: Envoy

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen on Monday assured Dhaka that the Chinese hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo river would not affect water flow to downstream countries, including Bangladesh as it is being implemented solely for electricity generation.

en.prothomalo.com

Chinese hydro-power project won’t affect downstream countries: Envoy

UNB Dhaka
Published: 21 Jul 2025, 22: 35

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen on Monday met with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain at the foreign ministry in Dhaka. UNB

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen on Monday assured Dhaka that the Chinese hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo river would not affect water flow to downstream countries, including Bangladesh as it is being implemented solely for electricity generation.

“China will not withdraw or use any water from the project and the project will not affect downstream countries’,” the Chinese envoy conveyed the message to Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain during a meeting at the foreign ministry here, said a ministry’s press release.

The assurance came against the backdrop of concerns in the lower riparian countries regarding potential impacts on water flow due to China’s construction of a large hydropower project near the Great Bend of the Yarlung Zangbo river, which becomes the Brahmaputra upon entering India and flows into Bangladesh as the river Jamuna.

China has maintained that the project is aimed at clean energy generation and regional carbon reduction, with no diversion of river water, the envoy said.

During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, with a focus on further strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The Chinese ambassador briefed the adviser on the follow-up actions of the recent visit of Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus to China, which included discussions on expanding collaboration in trade, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, fisheries, green energy, disaster management, and tourism.

The envoy also referred to the recent meetings between the Chinese Foreign Minister and Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser in Kuala Lumpur, where both sides discussed avenues to bolster bilateral ties.

Both countries underscored the need to enhance cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, particularly in view of the ongoing celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China this year.

Saif · Jul 27, 2025

How the thirsty are being fleeced

Water, like air, is a natural heritage of every man. Treating it as a profit-making commodity is morally wrong, akin to charging people for the air they breathe in. Regrettably, in Bangladesh, drinkable water - the very essence of life - is becoming increasingly unaffordable due to the authorities'

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

How the thirsty are being fleeced

FE
Published :
Jul 28, 2025 00:17
Updated :
Jul 28, 2025 00:17

Water, like air, is a natural heritage of every man. Treating it as a profit-making commodity is morally wrong, akin to charging people for the air they breathe in. Regrettably, in Bangladesh, drinkable water - the very essence of life - is becoming increasingly unaffordable due to the authorities' failure to protect this vital resource from profit-driven exploitation. On the one hand, public reliance on bottled drinking water is steadily increasing due to limited access to safe, potable water and the questionable quality of water supplied by the WASA. On the other hand, there is a mushroom growth of commercial ventures offering 'safe' drinking water at increasingly higher prices. Thus the ordinary citizens are left with little choice but to pay for what should be a basic necessity. The failure to check the unbridled price hike by holding the profiteers accountable raises serious concern.

The bottled water companies were already raking in hefty profits, as an investigation by the Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) revealed in 2023. In fact, the BCC filed a case against seven leading bottled water companies for colluding to collectively set unreasonably high prices, a clear violation of the Competition Act of 2012. The case is still awaiting a hearing. Reportedly, the hearing is being delayed for dubious reasons. Despite this pending legal action, these companies have mindlessly increased prices yet again, citing the flimsy reason of volatile dollar market and increase in the price of raw materials. It shows the companies' blatant disregard for regulatory efforts to hold them accountable and their profit-making tendency over public well-being.

In 2022, when the prices of bottled water were raised citing the same reason, the BCC launched an investigation and found that some of the companies' profit margins increased by as many as 400 per cent in the same year. The business has become so much profitable that the companies can afford giving retailers a commission of Tk 9.0 against the sale of each bottle of half liter water for Tk 20. But the consumers are shown no mercy.

Meanwhile, the city dwellers are doubly fleeced considering that they have been paying water tax and this tax is being raised every year. Water tariff has been increased 14 times in the past 13 years. Yet, the city dwellers cannot drink the WASA supplied water, and they have to spend extra money boiling it to make it potable or purchasing a water purifier, bottled water, or jar water. In few cities of the world does a separate body for water supply exist and this is part of municipal services. But despite the ever-rising water rate WASA did almost nothing to win the confidence of city-dwellers by supplying safe drinking water. Its underground pipeline is said to be old and decaying. Then why has nothing been done all these years? Why are the people burdened with an additional expenditure on account of drinking water? Instead, the WASA too has started supplying bottled water, in line with the other commercial companies. If the WASA too becomes a bottled water supplier and makes monetary gains from it, what interest will the body have in performing its primary duty of supplying safe drinking water? Therefore, both private companies and public entities like the WASA must be held accountable. Regulatory frameworks must be prioritised and strengthened to protect this basic human right for all.

Saif · Jul 27, 2025

Political will urged to build second Padma bridge, barrage

A strong political commitment is essential to build the long-pending Padma barrage and the proposed second Padma bridge, said Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday...

www.newagebd.net

Political will urged to build second Padma bridge, barrage
Staff Correspondent 27 July, 2025, 23:34

Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addresses a seminar titled The Necessity of Implementing Padma Barrage and Second Padma Bridge at the BRAC Centre Inn at Mohakhali in Dhaka on Sunday. | New Age photo New Age specials

A strong political commitment is essential to build the long-pending Padma barrage and the proposed second Padma bridge, said Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday.

He said that the lives and livelihoods of nearly eight crore people were linked to the Padma barrage and the second Padma bridge, but very unfortunately no final decisions were made in these regards even after seven rounds of feasibility studies.

Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled ‘The Need for Implementation of the Padma Barrage and Second Padma Bridge’, at the BRAC Centre at Mohakhali in the capital, Fakhrul said that such critical infrastructures could only be built if citizens raise their voices and demand action.

He urged citizens to unite beyond political differences and remain firm in their demand, stressing that whichever government comes to power must take action on the issues.

Drawing attention to the environmental and human impact of the Farakka Barrage, Fakhrul said that the negative consequences of the barrage were no longer confined to districts like Faridpur or Rajbari but had also become a pressing issue for the entire southern region.

Recalling that Maulana Bhasani took the Farakka Barrage issue to the international stage, Fakhrul observed that there should be a similar public awakening for the proposed Padma projects.

He said that the movement should continue in the spirit of Bhasani’s movement, adding that united efforts could make anything possible.

Fakhrul reiterated that his party had pledged to build a second Padma bridge.

Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya raised concerns over the lack of discussions and preparations regarding the renewal of the Ganges Water Treaty, set to expire next year.

He said that the Farakka Barrage in India severely affected up to one-third of Bangladesh’s people and land, yet no technical or strategic dialogue was taking place to safeguard national interests in future negotiations.

Commenting on the Padma barrage project, Debapriya called for its inclusion in the revised budget, expected after the general elections in February, 2026, and stressed the need for a new medium-term development plan.

Eminent water expert and former BRAC University vice-chancellor Professor Ainun Nishat warned that without the construction of the proposed Ganges barrage, the future of Bangladesh’s southwestern region could be bleak.

He said that areas such as Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, and Barguna were already experiencing negative population growth as people are fleeing the areas due to uninhabitable conditions.

He criticised the lack of political will behind the failure to implement the barrage project, saying that technical experts might provide analysis but the decisions on such infrastructures were ultimately political.

Referring to the 1996 water-sharing treaty with India, Ainun Nishat said that although Bangladesh was to receive 35,000 cusecs of water, it had often received far less.

Delivering just 10,000 cusecs to the Jashore-Khulna region could help protect the area, he added.

Economist and BRAC chair Hossain Zillur Rahman said that Bangladesh was experiencing a political turning point, where the main concern was not just the political structure but also the direction and nature of future politics.

He emphasised the importance of capable and transparent leadership, pointing out that political governance should reflect the hopes and expectations of the people.

The seminar was chaired by the National Committee for the Implementation of the Padma Barrage and Second Padma Bridge president Ali Nawaz Mahmud Khaiyam.

Speakers at the event included Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh general secretary Saiful Haque, Ganosamhati Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki, North South University vice-chancellor Professor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury and Water Development Board former director general Mahfuzur Rahman.