KURIGRAM — Bangladesh will excavate about 20,000 kilometers of rivers, canals and reservoirs over the next five years in a program that could transform the country’s water management, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu said Sunday.
Dulu spoke at the launch of re-excavation work on a canal running from Daser Hat Chhara to the Assistant Commissioner (Land) office connection in Araji Palashbari mouza of Holokhana union in Kurigram.
The minister said the late President Ziaur Rahman launched a canal-digging program in 1977 to boost agricultural output and expand irrigation.
The program brought a revolution, and Bangladesh exported rice for the first time as a result, he said. The BNP has now revived the canal-digging program to fulfill Zia’s vision.
Dulu said the program will have multiple effects. First, modern irrigation technology can raise agricultural productivity. Improving the irrigation system with stored water will lower costs for farmers and increase yields, he said.
Second, canals that hold water year-round will open opportunities for fish farming, duck rearing and other rural economic activity, creating new employment for rural youth, he said. Third, re-excavating canals will help control floods and waterlogging.
Kurigram District Administrator Annapurna Debnath, other district administration officials, political leaders and a large crowd attended the event.
The canal-digging program is being carried out under funding from the Employment Generation Program for the Poorest (EGPP).
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report