Decrease of water bodies worries experts
Eminent economist Rehman Sobhan yesterday expressed deep concern over high rate of decrease of land and water resources in the country.
The country's land and water resources have been decreasing day by day. The countrymen will be lucky if there any water body sustain in next 10 to 15 years, he said.
The resources are now “as precious as gold” in the country, he added.
Rehman Sobhan was addressing as chief guest at an inauguration programme of organising conference and ninth general meeting of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (Bapa) at National Academy of Planning and Development (NAPD) in the city.
He said that environmental issues are closely related to class-related problems.
The people who live in comfort of air conditioners and travel behind tilted car windows are not aware of the environmental problems, he said.
“When the environment becomes too difficult to cope with, they simply take a vacation to another country with more comfortable weather,” he said adding that the people who live in the “land” are more aware of what is happening to the environment.
Identifying the problems individually is a key to raise awareness about the issue, he added.
In his speech, Bapa President Prof Muzaffer Ahmed, who chaired the programme, emphasised participatory and sustainable development.
“Agriculture needs water. Even, residences need water,” he said.
“We are ruining water bodies to create more land.” “So, what would you do with just a piece of land?” he said.
Golam Rabbani, research fellow of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Sanjib Drong,
General Secretary of Bangladesh Adivashi Forum, Prof Anu Mohammad, member secretary of National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Ports, also spoke at the event.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments