Integrated management a must to address water problems in S Asia

Say experts

9 July 2010, 18:00 PM

Unb, Dhaka

Comprehensive integrated watershed management involving South Asian countries can address the longstanding water-related problems including flood havoc, desertification and flash flood, according to water experts. They say as the origin of all principal rivers of Bangladesh is outside the country, those rivers depend on upstream water to continue its flow and the country will not be able to address water-related problems without integrated initiative with neighbouring countries. About 92 percent of the catchments area of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Meghna (GBM) rivers are located outside Bangladesh while the GBM river basin is around 64 percent in India, 18 percent in China, 9 percent in Nepal, and 3 percent in Bhutan. It is estimated that the catchments area of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers is 12 times the size of Bangladesh. Water expert Sardar M Shah Newaz told UNB that river floods result from melting of snow in the Himalayas and heavy monsoon rainfall over the catchments of Ganges and Brahmaputra floodplains lying outside Bangladesh. He said: “Flash flood occurs in Bangladesh every year due to runoff during heavy rainfall in the neighbouring upland areas, mostly outside Bangladesh. We cannot manage our flash floods for want of comprehensive and planned watershed management.” Shah Newaz, also director of Flood Management Division of Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), underscored the necessity of water reservoirs in maintaining water system in South Asian region. He said as Bangladesh is a downstream country, there is no capability to build water reservoirs here. Bangladesh can build water reservoirs in upstream areas of GBM basin in cooperation with neighbouring countries. “India, Nepal and Bhutan have great potentiality to construct water reservoirs in upstream areas due to huge space. If those countries will take joint initiative to build water reservoirs with mutual understanding, all countries will be benefited.” Shah Newaz said more power can be generated by setting up hydropower station in upstream areas to address the electricity crisis in the region. Recalling some big floods that occurred in Bangladesh over the couple of decades, he said it is common phenomena that the country's Meghna river basin is flooded every year and the flood situation can be controlled by ensuring integrated watershed management in the region. “If we will ensure comprehensive integrated watershed management in a planned way, the ecosystem may improve though it will be changed.” Chairman of National Disaster Management Advisory Council Dr MA Quassem said water availability is around 90 billion cubic metre (BCM) during the dry season against the demand of about 147 BCM, a shortfall of nearly 40 percent, resulting in drought like situation in large parts of the country. “Water shortage in the dry season affects all water using sectors. Due to inadequate surface water, ground water is extensively used for irrigation and the over-extraction is causing deterioration of its quality.” He said Bangladesh receives more than 1.0 billion tons sediment inflow from the upper catchments of the GBM rivers in absence of planned water management. “Rivers get silted as these sediments are deposited within the channels.” Dr Quassem said rapid global warming has been causing fundamental changes to the country's climate. While flood-proneness in the monsoon season would increase, reduced water availability in the dry season would become more severe and accelerated sea level rise would increase salinity intrusion into low-lying areas. “It is predicted that 45cm rise of sea level may inundate about 17 percent of our land by 2050 resulting in about 35 million climate refugees from the coastal districts. Our water-related problems are created on the upstream watershed outside our territory and we face the consequences.” He said integrated watershed management of the GMB basin can increase water flow in dry season (flow augmentation potential in dry session around 175,000 cusecs). Dr Quassem, also member of National Water Resources Council, said the upstream storage reservoirs would provide multipurpose benefits like hydropower generation in addition to dry season augmentation of flows. Nepal's hydropower generation is estimated at about 83,000MW, of which 42,000MW is considered as techno-economically feasible while that of Bhutan about 20,000MW, and India 34,000MW, he said. He said the issue of cooperation among the co-riparian countries on watershed management should be considered as an issue of national development growth, rural development and poverty alleviation, and should not be used for political expediency. “The benefits of such cooperation should be clearly visualised and appreciated by the people in general.” Dr Quassem stressed the need for taking initiative to start an awareness campaign to popularise the concept and bring the issue in public consideration and formulating a forum or institution with representatives from regional countries. Experts said water is a commodity that is particularly vital in South Asia, where most of the countries are still largely agrarian. The first and foremost challenge in South Asia is the vulnerability to water scarcity and water-related disasters that cause huge loss of life and property. Estimated loss to agriculture ranges from 2-20 percent and revenue loss between 12-66 percent that erodes hard earned gains of development and hinders sustainable development for poverty reduction. The integrated watershed management efforts are indispensable for the region -- both for rural development and poverty alleviation and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), experts said.