Haor floods manmade, claim activists

Participants in a roundtable discussion on the recent flash floods in the haors (wetlands) in north-eastern districts alleged that it was a manmade disaster created by the collapse of faulty flood barriers to protect lives and crops.

They also demanded punishment for the officials and contractors responsible for building the flood barriers.
Summing up the discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) yesterday, rights activist Sultana Kamal said, “This disaster was due to the lack of planning and coordination by the government departments concerned and the substandard work by the contractors who built the flood barriers.”
Kamal, who chaired the discussion, added: “Unless exemplary punishment is meted out to the organisations and contractors responsible, there will be no stopping the recurrence of such disasters in future.”
Presenting the keynote paper, president of Environment and Haor Development Organisation (EHD) Kasmir Reza said failure to construct flood barriers in time, siltation of rivers, and financial mismanagement and corruption were responsible for loss of crops in the haors. Reza demanded sale of rice at Tk. 10 per kg to 90 per cent of the families living in the affected areas.
The meeting was organised by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) and Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA). Among others, former director-general of WARPO, M Enamul Huq, CEO of BELA, Syeda Rezwana Hasan, and an affected farmer from Shanir haor in Sunamganj, Shafiqul Islam, participated in the discussion.

 

Haor floods manmade, claim activists

Participants in a roundtable discussion on the recent flash floods in the haors (wetlands) in north-eastern districts alleged that it was a manmade disaster created by the collapse of faulty flood barriers to protect lives and crops. They also demanded punishment for the officials and contractors responsible for building the flood barriers. Summing up the discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) yesterday, rights activist Sultana Kamal said, This disaster was due to the lack of planning and coordination by the government departments concerned and the substandard work by the contractors who built the flood barriers. Kamal, who chaired the discussion, added: Unless exemplary punishment is meted out to the organisations and contractors responsible, there will be no stopping the recurrence of such disasters in future. Presenting the keynote paper, president of Environment and Haor Development Organisation (EHD) Kasmir Reza said failure to construct flood barriers in time, siltation of rivers, and financial mismanagement and corruption were responsible for loss of crops in the haors. Reza demanded sale of rice at Tk. 10 per kg to 90 per cent of the families living in the affected areas. The meeting was organised by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) and Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA). Among others, former director-general of WARPO, M Enamul Huq, CEO of BELA, Syeda Rezwana Hasan, and an affected farmer from Shanir haor in Sunamganj, Shafiqul Islam, participated in the discussion.