Bangladesh proposes joint river dredging with India amid deadly floods

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh has proposed to India that joint dredging of common rivers be conducted as devastating floods caused by monsoon rains have wreaked havoc in the neighboring countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the suggestion late Thursday when Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami called on her in the capital Dhaka, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary, Ihsanul Karim, told the media after the meeting.

The proposal has been raised at a time when both nations have been suffering from massive floods that have claimed over 170 lives in the two countries and marooned millions of others.

According to the latest official data, floods and landslides have claimed at least 107 lives in India and 68 in Bangladesh while the disasters have displaced millions of people, damaging homes, properties and croplands and wiping out cattle.

The South Asian neighbors have 54 common rivers and both states face massive floods nearly every year due to monsoon rains while the flooding in Bangladesh frequently worsens due to water flow from upstream India.

Proper river dredging is considered an effective step to absorb huge amounts of water and control the worsening floods for both climate-vulnerable nations.

Expressing concerns over the havoc in the Indian states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya due to the ongoing floods, Hasina said water conservation could be ensured through river dredging on a regular basis.

Highlighting regular river dredging as an effective way to overcome natural disasters like floods, the Bangladeshi premier described the deplorable situation in the country's northeast caused by the heavy rains across the mountains of northeast India.

“The Bangladeshi government is ready to work together with India to overcome any such natural disaster,” Karim quoted Hasina as saying.

The Indian High Commissioner also responded positively to Hasina and reaffirmed his government's stance to assist the flood victims in Bangladesh, Karim added.