Green experts seek review of Delta Plan 2100
Without further amendment, Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP) 2100 will not succeed as with many flood control, drainage, and irrigation projects, said green organisations in their proposal at a press conference yesterday.
On January 11-12, experts from 13 universities, 41 organisations and foreign countries accepted a 40-point proposal during “Conference on Delta Plan 2100 and Sustainable Development” held in Dhaka.
To publish the proposal, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) and Bangladesh Poribesh Network (BEN) held the press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity.
Dr Abdul Matin, general secretary of Bapa, read out the proposal.
Although the conference welcomed the BDP initiative, it said there are some major weaknesses in it.
The proposal stated that it is surprising to select 80 projects out of 123 for implementation in 2018-2030, as they were selected by “a group of implementing agencies”.
At the press conference, Dr Abdul Matin said they do not disagree with the government's plan, rather would like the incompleteness, flaws and limitations of the BDP addressed.
“If the authorities accept the list of projects from the implementing agencies, questions will be raised about the objective of BDP,” the proposal added.
At the press conference, Bapa Vice President Khandaker Bazlul Haque urged the government to scrutinise the delta plan further.
Sharif Jamil, joint secretary of Bapa, said, “There was a need to collect and scrutinise more data in adopting the delta plan… I think review of the project is very much needed.”
Prof M Firoz Ahmed, co-chairperson of Bapa, said, “The geographies of the Netherlands and Bangladesh are not the same. So, it will not be viable to adopt delta plan based on their recommendations.”
Environment academics, experts, researchers from different institutions and activists from environment organisation were present at the press conference.
According to Planning Commission, the government will implement the 100-year long Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 in three phases which include a short-term plan by 2030, a mid-term plan by 2050, and a long-term plan by 2100.
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