'Regional cooperation for flood management'

Regional cooperation is needed for effective flood management in the Ganges, Brahmmaputra and Meghna (GBM) basin, said the speakers at a function in the city yesterday.

They said the existing flood forecasting and warning system of Bangladesh Meteorological Department could be more effective if the relevant data could be obtained earlier from the upstream areas of the GBM catchment.

The speakers were participating at the launching ceremony of the anthology titled 'Flood Problem and Management in South Asia' edited by M Monirul Kader Mirza at the BUP auditorium.

The function was jointly organised by South Asia Adaptation Network (SAAN) and Media Network for Sustainable Development (MNSD).

The speakers said Bangladesh needs to foster an effective regional co-operation mechanism with the GBM regional countries to promote further its flood and disaster management.

Presided over by Dr QK Ahmed, chairman of SAAN, the function was addressed by Syed Shah Habib Ullah, executive director of MNSD and M Monirul Kader Mirza, executive secretary of SAAN.

HS Mozaddad Faruque, director general of Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO) and MH Siddiqui, water resources expert, reviewed the book.

The anthology contains ten articles on flood, flood forecasting and flood management.