ECNEC nods over Tk 18.03b to fight flood, river erosion

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved 10 projects including flood and riverbank erosion risk management in Padma and Jamuna rivers involving Tk 4,621.34 crore (46.21 billion).

The approval came at the ECNEC meeting with ECNEC chairperson and prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The prime minister attended the meeting joining virtually from her official residence, Gonobhaban, in the capital while ministers, state ministers, planning commission members and secretaries concerned were connected from the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

Briefing the newsmen after the meeting, planning minister MA Mannan said that a total of 10 projects were approved involving an overall estimated cost of Tk 4,621.34 crore (46.21 billion).

“Of the total project cost, Tk 3,055.21 crore (30.55 billion) will come from the government while Tk 1,566.13 crore (15.66 billion) as project assistance,” he added.

Among the approved 10 projects, five are new while five others are revised ones.

Mannan informed that Bangladesh Water Development Board under the Ministry of Water Resources will implement the Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Programme (Project-2) with a cost of Tk 1,803.07 crore (18.03 billion) by December 2025.

He said the main goal of this project is to provide assistance to improve the standard of life, alleviate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth of the people affected by erosion along the Jamuna and Padma rivers.

Under the project, he mentioned that the government will build flood and river erosion prevention management through structural development and enhancement of institutional capacity.

The government will also develop integrated management to prevent river erosion and increase sustainability in the project area, the minister added.

He went on saying that the main project operations include 30km riverbank protection, construction of 7.90km embankment, 40 km adaptation work and 6km emergency work.

The approved projects include two each under the agriculture ministry and industries ministry and one each of water resources ministry; defence ministry; environment, forest and climate change ministry; post and telecommunication division; road, transport and highways division and security service division.

The two projects under industries ministry are ‘Establishment of Six Bangladesh Industrial Technical Assistance Center (BITAC) in Gopalganj, Sunamganj, Barisal, Rangpur, Jamalpur and Jashore districts’ with a cost of Tk 1,132.61 crore (11.32 billion) and ‘Establishment of Urea Formaldehyde-85 (UF-85) plant’ with Tk 724.30 crore (7.24 billion).

The two projects under the agriculture ministry include ‘Agricultural Development of Sylhet Region through Modern Technology’ with Tk 200.54 crore (2 billion) and ‘Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Management (CSAWM) (DAE Part)’ with Tk 106.08 crore (1.06 billion).

The other projects approved in the meeting are ‘Netrokona-Bishiura-Ishwarganj Road (Z-3710) Development (1st revision)’ with Tk 481.20 crore (4.81 billion), Construction of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Building (1st revision)’ with Tk 261.86 crore (2.61 billion), ‘Construction of 16 Regional Passport Offices (Construction of revised 17 Regional Passport Offices and Upward Expansion of 4 Passport Office Buildings) (1st revision)’ spending at Tk 128.39 crore (1.28 billion), ‘Establishment of Sheikh Hasina Cantonment Barisal (1st revision)’ with Tk 2,030.09 crore (20.30 billion), and ‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, Gazipur Approach Road Widening and Other Necessary Infrastructure Development (3rd revision)’ with Tk 242.06 crore (2.42 billion).