Haor disaster: No water experts came up with the truth, minister alleges

Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud today alleged that no water experts upheld the truth about the haor disaster.

He also accused the mass media of not providing accurate information in this regard, reports Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

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“I have heard on talk shows that most of the water experts said hundreds of crores of Taka had been looted in embankment construction in the haors,” the water resources minister said adding that whereas only Tk 20 crore were allocated for repairing the embankments.      

Crops in the haors were destroyed due to untimely rainfall, the minister claimed while speaking at a programme at Cirdap auditorium in Dhaka.

READ more: Nature turns her back on Haor people

He further mentioned that heavy rainfall was the reason behind the flood in the haor areas.

“The second highest rainfall was recorded in Cherrapunji of India. Height of haor embankments is six and a half metres. The water went over seven metres height. Therefore, crops were damaged due to this untimely rainfall,” he said.

The programme was organised to present findings of a research report on river erosion forecast, the Bangla daily said.