Water Resources Management in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is inhabited by about 125 million people in an area of 148,000 square kilometer and is located within the floodplains of three great rivers of the world: the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna. The current population density of about 850 per square kilometer is the highest of any nation in the world and its economy is heavily dependent on agricultural productions. During the decade between 1984–85 and 1994–95, share of agriculture to GDP declined from 41.8 to 32.8 per cent. Projection of employment to the year 2020 shows that till that time agriculture will continue as the major source of employment by absorbing over 40% of the labor force. The total annual flow of the river system in Bangladesh is about 1.5 billion cubic meters of which 1.36 billion cubic meters (93%) originates from upper regions in India, Nepal and Bhutan. During the monsoon season (June to October), there is plenty of water (85% of the total flows) and opposite happens in the dry season (November to May) when the flow of the rivers go down so much that in certain areas of the country normal economic life is seriously disrupted. The south western region of Bangladesh which is solely dependent on the Ganges waters for its sustenance has been facing major environmental hazards since the operation of the Farakka barrage in 1975 in the upstream of the river in India. The above water syndrome, too much during the wet months and too little during the dry months, points to the necessity of better management of available water resource. The ongoing National Water Management Plan (NWPM) will make an assessment of the overall availability of water both spatially and temporarily and will project the balanced use of these resources.