Roundtable discussion on “Securing Tomorrow’s Water: Building Resilience in Barind Tract”
Water scarcity poses a significant threat to communities worldwide, and Bangladesh is no exception. In the Barind Tract of north-western Bengal, this challenge looms large, exacerbated by climate change. Here, groundwater levels are decreasing due to overexploitation for agriculture, industry, and domestic use. The region has a history of moderate to extreme droughts, indicating fast-depleting aquifers and signaling an impending crisis.
Bangladesh's population is projected to reach 218 million by 2050, the stress on groundwater resources is set to intensify further. This competition over water resources has hindered development, affecting health, economic productivity, and food security, and impacting the livelihoods of millions.
To address these pressing challenges, WaterAid together with Prothom Alo and BRAC, organised a roundtable discussion on 18 March 2024 titled Securing Tomorrow’s Water: Building Resilience in Barind Tract, to mark the World Water Day 2024. This year’s theme is "Water for Peace" with an objective to raise awareness and foster collaborative actions to ensure sustainable water management.
Academicians, sector representatives, and government officials, participated in the discussion, initiating a dialogue on water scarcity and socio-economic challenges in the Barind Tract. The discussion focused to recognise the water crisis in the Barind Tract and identify challenges in water resource management. Additionally, the event aimed to facilitate interactions between sector actors to cultivate collaborative action and shared goals, advocating for change through knowledge and experience sharing to ensure water security.
Mr Hossain I Adib, Director- IDP and WASH, BRAC, commenced the roundtable and stressed on the fact that water scarcity induced violence or peace is not just a transboundary issue, rather it is an issue between the diverse communities in the Barind tracts. He urged everyone to focus on the need for integrated technical and policy-based approach to address the issue.
Among all notable speaker’s Dr Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed, Professor in the Department of Geology, University of Dhaka started the discussion and highlighted the issue of uncontrolled water usages for agriculture. Mr Md Rezaul Maksud Jahedi, Director General of the Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO); Mr Malik Fida A Khan, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS); Dr Anwar Zahid, Director of Geology and Ground Water Hydrology at the Bangladesh Water Development Board; Dr Mahbuba Nasreen, Pro Vice Chancellor of Bangladesh Open University; and Mr Jahangir Alam Khan, Project Coordinator of the IWRM Project at DASCOH; Dr Nehreen Majed, Professor and Head Department of Civil Engineering at University of Asia Pacific; along with Dr Md Liakath Ali, Director of Climate Change, Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management at BRAC; and Ms Hasin Jahan, Country Director of WaterAid Bangladesh, participated in the event. Mr Firoz Choudhury, Assistant Editor of Daily Prothom Alo, served as the moderator for the event
Dr Md Liakath Ali highlighted that the underground water level is falling in Barind tract and to deal with this crisis, he stressed to ensure increment in the use of surface water in this region. Ms Hasin Jahan at the end thanked all the speakers for their suggestions, comments, and actions they are taking for long-term planning and implementation of the concern policy and strategy to make immediate solutions more effective. She advised to prioritise drinking water security over food security in this area which is imperative along with addressing the gender-based vulnerability. Therefore, ensuring equitable distribution of water resources in the Barind tract is crucial. Everyone agreed to the proposal to preserve at least one canal in each upazila for domestic purposes and to place greater emphasis on protecting groundwater resources in the Barind tract.
Related media coverage: Prothom alo news coverage- English & Bangla.
