Observing World Water Day 2014
22/03/2014
Like other countries of the world, Bangladesh has observed ‘World Water Day’ this year with special events. The theme of the day was “Water and Energy’. In observance of the day, the Ministry of Water Resources organised a seminar at the auditorium of the CIRDAP International Conference Centre, Dhaka on 22 March 2014. The Hon’ble State Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources Mr. Muhammad Nazrul Islam Bir Protik was present at the seminar as Chief Guest while Dr. Zafar Ahmed Khan, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources was present as Special Guest. The seminar was chaired by Mr. Md. Shahidur Rahman, Director General, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). Two keynote speeches were delivered by Engr. Md. Waji Ullah, Executive Director, CEGIS and Dr. M. Monowar Hossain, Executive Director, Institute of Water Modelling (IWM). Designated discussants from the Department of Environment, BUET and Bangladesh Water Partnership (BWP) also attended the programme. A special supplementary was published in the national dailies marking the day.
In his address, the Chief Guest stressed upon the need for coordination in the water and energy sectors of the country. Given that the nature of water and energy is not mutually exclusive, the State Minister urged for the adoption of coordinated approaches which will benefit both sectors in the course of national developments. He also pointed out that the developments should be friendly to both water and energy. The Special Guest of the seminar Dr. Zafar Ahmed Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources pointed out the vulnerability of the two sectors against the backdrop of climate change and called for concerted efforts where one sector (water) should not be affected by the activities of another (energy) sector. He called for equal consideration of both sectors in the national agenda. The other learned participants of the seminar also spoke in the same vein, underscoring the need to consider the developments against the theme of the day.
The seminar was sponsored by CEGIS, IWM, BWP and BWDB. A number of dignitaries from various government and non-government organisations, civil societies and development partners along with foreign delegates attended the seminar. The seminar was successful in achieving the aim of knowledge sharing fruitful discussion.
