CEGIS News Archive

A launching workshop on the Feasibility Study for Integrated Water Resource Management Project (IWMP) of Polder 34/2 in Bagerhat district was organised jointly on 24 May 2010 by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), CEGIS and the Institute of Water Modeling (IWM). Mr. Ramesh Chandra Sen, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Water Resource, was the Chief Guest and Al-Haj Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Water Resource, was the Special Guest of the occasion.

The workshop was held in the Rampal upazila of Bagerhat district to inform participants about the aim and tentative planning for integrated water resource management options in the proposed and existing sub-project area under polder 34/2. The workshop was held specifically at upazila level for ensuring the participation of people directly dependent on the coastal eco-system of that area.

The event was chaired by Mr. Md. Habibur Rahman, Director General, BWDB. The main presentation of the workshop was given by Dr. Abu Taher Khandoker, Additional Director General, Planning, BWDB. Professionals of the BWDB, IWM and CEGIS as well as members of the local government and key informants actively participated in the workshop. Among other things, issues such as the need for proper monitoring and cooperation among agencies concerned were discussed by the local participants. They also expressed the hope that the proposed IWMP concept would improve the agricultural condition of the area by almost 50% thereby facilitating Aman rice production.

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A workshop entitled ‘Paradigm Shift in Agriculture : An Energy Saving Perspective’ was organised by CEGIS at the Spectra Convention Centre in Dhaka on 18 May 2010. Begum Matia Chowdhury, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (GoB) graced the occasion as the Chief Guest while Mr Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, GoB, was present as the Special Guest.

At the workshop, which was chaired by Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS, two papers were presented. The paper ‘More Crops with Less Water’ was presented by Mr Ehsan Hafiz Chowdhury, Researcher and Director, Database and IT Division, CEGIS; and the paper ‘More Agricultural Production with Less Energy’ was presented by Mr Ahmadul Hassan, Researcher and Director, Research and Development Division, CEGIS.

More Crops with Less Water

- Ehsan Hafiz Chowdhury

Water is the most crucial factor in agricultural production. Precipitation deficiency is always the trigger, but it is the shortage of useful water in the soil, rivers and reservoirs, which is experienced as drought. In general terms, drought indicates dryness or lack of precipitation or water. The simplest definition of drought is: “any unusual dry period which results in a shortage of water”.

The changing hydro-metrological conditions and agricultural practices in Bangladesh have gradually converted it into a drought prone country. The growing imbalance between water demand and supply is expected to deteriorate further. Trends have become visible of both reducing water availability and increasing demand while many water "users" are becoming more sensitive to water shortage conditions (e.g., widely practiced HYV crops which are generally more sensitive to water shortage).

BARC and CEGIS initiated a project to update and upgrade the existing drought assessment methodology. The purpose was to support planning and management decisions, which would attempt to reduce the vulnerability of existing agricultural practices. The Drought Assessment Framework (DRAS) model developed by CEGIS has been tested in farms and research institutes (BRRI, BARI and BWDB) in different agro-ecological regions of the country. More than 8 tons/ha of paddy can be grown using 800-1000 mm of water in the research fields. The validation results show that using almost 50% less water, potential yield can be achievable. Click to see the pdf version of the Presentation... (File size 5MB)

More Agricultural Production with Less Energy

- Ahmadul Hassan

Two key issues were focused on the paper. These are, changing the mindset to “Aman is a rain-fed crop, but it needs supplementary irrigation” and increasing irrigation efficiency using the ‘Optimal Water Use’ method and subsequently reducing energy (electricity and diesel), which means more savings to the farmers.

By changing the mindset to Aman, production can be increased from the present 10 million ton to 17.5 million ton. Using the ‘Optimal Water Use’ method during Boro season, production can be increased from 18 to 29.25 million ton. In addition to that, it will save at least 500 MW of electricity and 37 crore litres of diesel in the Boro season. Click to see the pdf version of the Presentation...(File size 12MB)

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CEGIS has entered into an agreement with the Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board (BHWDB) over the project ‘Preparation of Master Plan and Development of Database for Haors & Wetlands’ project. As per the agreement, CEGIS shall conduct two studies, one on the ‘Preparation of a Master Plan for Haor Areas under Component-1’ and the other on the ‘Development of an Integrated Haor and Wetlands Resources Database (IHWRD) under Component 2’.

CEGIS will look into the hydrological and hydro-geological characteristics and conditions as well as land-use patterns and water quality situation. Soil, fishery, forest, environment, eco-system and socio-economic trends will be studied. A detailed inventory will be prepared on haors and wetlands, their coverage during winter and floods, land use, flora and fauna, etc and a GIS and hydrological database will be created. Upazila-wise water resources maps and manuals will also be developed to facilitate project planners and local people in implementing development projects without harming the ecosystem. For monitoring purposes, a one dimensional hydrodynamic model will be developed covering all perennial water bodies of the country to guide wetland development and improvement. CEGIS will also propose designs for different types of structures needed for maintaining the wetlands.

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A seminar was jointly organised on 8 April 2010 by CEGIS and the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) to disseminate riverbank erosion prediction results for 2010. Mr Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, was Special Guest of the seminar.

Since 2004, CEGIS has conducted erosion prediction for the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma under different projects of the BWDB and WARPO funded by the Government of Bangladesh, Government of Canada, the ADB and the UNDP. The predictions, that are made one year ahead, are based on a method developed by CEGIS using dry season satellite images.

For 2010, CEGIS has predicted that around 1655 hectares of land and 7560 metres of district, upazila and rural roads along the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma may be eroded. It is also predicted that flood embankment may be breached at four locations along the banks of the Jamuna while 23 educational institutions, 2 marketplaces, 7 government offices and 7 health centers may be eroded this year. The districts predicted to be the most vulnerable to erosion in 2010 are Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra, Sirajganj, Tangail, Pabna, Manikganj, Nawabganj, Rajshahi, Kushtia, Rajbari, Faridpur and Shariatpur.

The Secretary, MoWR and the Director General of the BWDB both stated that the technique developed by CEGIS was needed for resource saving. The discussants from different organisations such as WARPO, BWDB, BUET, DMB, RRI, UNDP, LGED, and different NGOs and social organisations mainly focused on the integration of CEGIS’ technology with their own available technology. All agreed that this riverbank erosion prediction tool will save the nation’s resources.

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The “Bangladesh Water Security Workshop-2010” was organised on 22nd February, 2010 in Dhaka to disseminate and share knowledge on issues, problems, management of flood, water resources and environment. The workshop was attended by the project partners namely Ritsumeikan University of Japan, CEGIS, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh Water Partnership (BWP) and officials from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) responsible for the city's development, Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Centre for Global Change (CGC).

The presenters focused on flood management; water use and management; impacts of climate change on water resources and environment and possible solutions; adaptation policies; and policy approaches for wetland management in light of the experiences gathered both at home and abroad.

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To celebrate the ‘World Wetlands Day 2010’, the Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board held a seminar titled ‘Impact of Climate Change on the Haor, Wetland and Environment’ in the hall room of the National Press Club on 2 February 2010. The event was organized with technical support from CEGIS.

Present on the occasion were Mr Ramesh Chandra Sen, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Water Resources as the Chief Guest and Mr Al-haj Md Mahbubur Rahman, Hon’ble State Minister, Ministry of Water Resources as the Special Guest. The seminar was presided over by Mr Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman, Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources. Major Md Golam Kibria Khan Choudhury (Retd), Director General, Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board delivered the welcoming speech.Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS presented the keynote on the occasion. Among others, Mr Mohibur Rahman Manik, Member of Parliament (Sunamganj – 5) and Mr Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of the Save Environment Movement, spoke at the seminar.

The Hon’ble Minister, Mr Ramesh Chandra Sen emphasized the need for developing haor and wetland areas for the overall development of the country. He also mentioned that the government will be initiating a long-term plan for developing the haor area and that a high-level meeting will soon be held in this regard. Speaking about climate change impacts, the Hon’ble Minister of State, Mr Al-haj Md. Mahbubur Rahman said that if not addressed properly, the climate change impacts on the haor and wetlands will damage the water resources and wetlands of Bangladesh. Therefore, appropriate measures must be taken. The Hon’ble Secretary, Mr Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman briefed the audience about the ongoing activities on wetland conservation and management. He also talked about the development plans of the government on adaptation and mitigation of the impacts of climate change. Delivering the keynote, Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS mentioned that in December 2009 Bangladesh was identified at the Copenhagen Summit as the most vulnerable country to climate change. He also cautioned that according to the research findings of CEGIS, one metre of sea level rise would cause half a metre water rise in haor areas.

This well-timed seminar was covered in the popular daily newspapers and highlighted by the digital media of the country.

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CEGIS signed a contract on 3 December 2009 with Habitat for Humanity International to conduct an environmental damage assessment. This assignment aims to assess the present environmental status and level of contamination/ damage caused by the Titas gas field leakage in the Brahmanbaria area and to identify suitability of the location for human settlement.

The activities that will be carried out under the two-month project include: field measurement to assess the condition of air, water and soil; comparison of the field measurement with the standard measurement set up by the Department of Environment; a questionnaire survey to assess the social impact; and a report with indication regarding the state of environment and degradation of the project location and existing risks to public health.

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A contract was signed between CEGIS and Uttaran on 14 September 2009 for the period August 2009-July 2010. Under the contract, CEGIS will provide advisory and technical support to the preparation of a people’s plan of action for the management of rivers in the South West region of Bangladesh.

During the contract period, CEGIS will mainly provide services in areas related to environmental, social, institutional and water management as well as remote sensing and GIS support.

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CEGIS was honored by a visit from the Hon’ble Minister of State for Relief Disaster Preparedness and Refugees of the Government of the Republic of Uganda, Mr Musa Ecweru, on 10 September 2009. The visit, organised by UNDP Bangladesh, was part of the delegation’s tour of Bangladesh to learn how disasters are managed and information is coordinated and disseminated, as the Government of Uganda plans to adopt a National Disaster Management Policy and establish a National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre.


The delegation visiting CEGIS comprised the Minister as well as Mr Martin Owor, Acting Commissioner, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees; Major General Julius Oketta, Director, National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre; and Dr M Aminul Islam, Assistant Country Director (Disaster Management), UNDP Bangladesh.

The delegation was briefed on CEGIS’ activities by Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director of CEGIS. Senior professionals of CEGIS were present at this briefing. Mr Choudhury described the Center’s role in reaching the vulnerable community with information on disaster management, prediction, warning and preparedness. The Minister expressed deep appreciation of CEGIS’ technical expertise in disaster management, particularly its contribution in disseminating disaster prediction, warning and preparedness messages to the rural population in their own local language. He further expressed his belief that CEGIS’ experience in this field would help finalise the disaster management policy of his own country.

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An agreement for ‘Updating Agro Ecological Zones Data’ was signed between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CEGIS on July 30, 2009. Under the study project the updating works would be initiated by obtaining climatic data from the Bangladesh Meteorology Department. The data would be utilised for preparing agro-climatic parameters of the Agro Ecological Zones (AEZ) database.

The study will determine the extent to which climate has changed in the past 25 years. A national level stakeholder workshop will be organised to share the study findings.

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The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP) and CEGIS signed a contract on 2nd August 2009 for GIS Support in the Land Acquisition and Resettlement (LA&R) Process. Under this project a GIS based Management System will be developed to provide assistance to PMBP in the process of LA&R. The task will be done through visualizing and generating various types of maps and reports by using high-resolution satellite images, Mouza maps and Joint Verification Data and other field information.

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Mr Ramesh Chandra Sen, Honourable Minister for Water Resources, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh paid a visit to CEGIS on 20 April 2009. The Additional Secretary Ms Riti Ibrahim along with some other officials of the Ministry accompanied him.

The Hon’ble Minister was briefed in detail on the activities of CEGIS by Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director. The senior professionals of the organisation were also present at that time. While interacting with them, the Hon’ble Minister expressed his deep appreciation of their valuable contribution to the natural resources management of Bangladesh. He emphasised the importance of the capital dredging of the country’s main rivers, as well as the sustainable river training works, particularly for the Jamuna, to keep the river at the minimum width. The Hon’ble Minister also stressed the need to complete the feasibility study of the Ganges Barrage in the shortest possible time so that its construction may be started.

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Dr Sarker has received his degree from the University of Nottingham, UK. His Ph.D thesis, titled ‘Morphological Response of the Brahmaputra-Padma-Lower Meghna River System to the Assam Earthquake of 1950’, proposed a working hypothesis that morphological changes in the Jamuna-Padma-Lower Meghna system have occurred in response to disturbance of the fluvial system by the Assam earthquake of 1950. The conceptual process-response model presented in the paper would help in planning how to manage future channel instability and mitigate its socioeconomic impacts for the benefit of floodplain dwellers and the nation.

Dr Sobhan has received his degree from the Wageningen University, the Netherlands. His Ph.d thesis, titled ‘Species discrimination from a hyperspectral perspective’ investigated a number of methods to discriminate plant species using hyperspectral remote sensing to confirm the main hypothesis that discrimination of plant species can be enhanced while using hyperspectral and high spatial resolution imagery.

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Bangladesh Water Partnership (BWP) and CEGIS jointly organised a two-day event over 3rd and 4th January 2009. On the first day, the event comprised a Regional Synthesis Workshop on Flood Disasters Management in the Ganges and Brahmaputra River Basins, which on the second day consisted of a follow up Meeting of the Regional Programme of GWP-South Asia on Coping with Climate Variability and Change through Partnership as well as a Discussion Meeting on South Asia Sub-Regional Document and progress on preparation of South Asia region for participation in the 5th World Water Forum. The event was held at the conference room of the LGED.

The Chief Guest at the inaugural session of the Regional Workshop, held on 3rd January, was Dr. Mohammad Ayub Miah, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The keynote paper was presented by Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS. Mr Md Shahidul Hassan, President (Acting), Bangladesh Water Partnership and formerly Chief Engineer, LGED presided over the Inaugural Session. The welcome speech was delivered by Mr Tauhidul Anwar Khan, Member, Indo-Bangla Joint Rivers Commission and Secretary General, Bangladesh Water Partnership.

India, Nepal and Bangladesh presented their country study findings at the workshop. In these presentations the institutional arrangements for flood disaster management, needs, gaps and opportunities for improvement in regional cooperation in flood disaster management of the respective countries were presented. All three presenters emphasized on a basin wide approach and sharing of reliable flood information. At the conclusion of the workshop, the study findings were summed up by Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury.

The ‘Follow up Meeting of the Regional Programme of GWP-South Asia on Coping with Climate Variability and Change through Partnership’, held on 4th January, was chaired by Mr Sadar Muhammad Tariq, President, Pakistan Water Partnership and Co-chaired by Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Coordinator, Climate Change Project. In this session presenters from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh described climate change and related concerns regarding their respective countries and also highlighted adaptation and mitigation options, which are currently practiced or may be adopted in the future.

During discussions, the Chairperson mentioned that the problems and concerns caused by climate change were similar in the region but that the adaptation and mitigation interventions varied from country to country. Several problems like flood, drought, glacier melt, sea level rise, salinity intrusion etc. are prominent in the region. In India, Pakistan and Nepal it is glacier melt, which is the greatest threat, whereas in Bangladesh flood, drought, sea level rise and salinity intrusion are the major threats.

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The Ministry of Water Resources bade farewell to Dr C S Karim, Honourable Advisor for Agriculture and Water Resources to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh on 5 January 2009. Officials of the Ministry and its affiliated organisations including CEGIS were present at the occasion. Dr Karim tried to bring effective people’s participation in water management for the benefit of the community where CEGIS worked as a medium and facilitator. Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director of CEGIS, amongst others, delivered a speech and presented a crest to the Hon’ble Advisor for his love and sincere work for water resources management in Bangladesh. The crest carries this message of appreciation: CEGIS appreciates and commends your sincere effort in bringing water democracy for able water management through people’s participation.

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CEGIS recently facilitated a visit to the Kapatakshya Basin area by Dr C S Karim, hon’ble Advisor for the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Bangladesh. The purpose of the short visit, made during 24-25 October, was to observe the water logged situation in the area. The Advisor was accompanied by the top management of BWDB including the Director General, Additional Director General, and Chief Engineer of the South-West zone as well as district administration officials. The water logged area covers Monirampur and Keshobpur upazilas, the Khulna-Satkhira highway, Tala upazila and Jhikorgacha upazila.

A team of professionals from CEGIS comprising Md Waji Ullah, Head, Water Resources Division, Md Sarfaraz Wahed, Planning and Design Engineer and Subrata Kumar Mondal, Socio-economist facilitated the visit. As CEGIS has long experience in working in the Kapatakshya Basin area, the team successfully established good communication between the local people and the Advisor. The team also facilitated and organized local workshops to disseminate social and environmental information as well as explain the purpose of the visit.

The hon’ble Advisor spent time discussing the situation with the local people and explored possible solutions to their sufferings through public consultation and participatory interaction. He took part in consultation sessions at Tala, Keshobpur and Jhikorgacha upazilas and Jessore. While expressing his appreciation for CEGIS’ services, the Advisor requested CEGIS to actively participate in the efforts to relieve the sufferings of the people of the Kapatakshya Basin area.

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On 28 April, CEGIS held a seminar at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel to disseminate its study findings on riverbank erosion along the Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers for the year 2008. The report on the findings, sponsored by UNDP, was presented at the seminar titled ‘Proactive Disaster Risk Reduction through Erosion Prediction’. The event was attended, among others, by Dr CS Karim, Water Resources Advisor, Ms Hua Du, ADB Country Director, and Mr Ian Rector, Chief Technical Advisor to CDMP. Mr HS Mozaddad Faruque, DG, BWDB chaired the inaugural session of the seminar and Mr Mohammad Inamul Haque, DG, WARPO presided over the technical session.

It was revealed at the seminar that some 29,000 people living in the vicinities of the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma are likely to lose their homesteads by river erosion this year. It was also revealed that some 7,020 acres of land, 1,000 acres of settlement, 150 meters of embankment, 6100 meters of roads, 31 educational institutions, 11 market places and 10 government offices will be engulfed by these three rivers in the current year. Erosion by Jamuna River is predicted for 26 locations, and 12 locations by the Ganges and 5 locations by the Padma.

Speakers at the seminar expected that different national agencies will take necessary action based on the prediction report to minimize national losses caused by erosion. Similarly, they expressed the hope that communities will respond to the prediction by minimizing the suffering of the erosion vulnerable people. The speakers also underscored the need for long-term plans and integrated cooperation among the upstream and downstream riparian countries for mitigation of loss of life and property.

A number of presentations were made at the inaugural session of the seminar. The presentations on Community Erosion Management System, Disaster Reduction Through Erosion Prediction and Erosion Prediction for Disaster Preparedness were made respectively by Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS, Mr Maminul Haque Sarker, Head, Morphology Division CEGIS, and Mr Ian Rector, Chief Technical Advisor and Team Leader, CDMP.

Mr Md Zahirul Haque Khan, Head Coast, Port and Estuary Management Division, IWM presented the paper on "Erosion Forecasting Techniques for the Rivers and Estuary" at the technical session. The designated discussants at the technical session were Mr Emaduddin Ahmad, ED IWM, Mr Md Azizul Haque, Chief Planning, BWDB, Dr M Monowar Hossain, Professor WRE Deptt, BUET, Dr Md Abdul Matin, Professor WRE Deptt, BUET, Dr Anisul Haque, Professor and Director IWFM, BUET, and Mr Malik Fida A Khan, Head, Database/IT Division, CEGIS.

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A certificate award ceremony was held on 21 January at the NEC auditorium of the Planning Commission. CEGIS provided a number of training to different high-level officials of the SICT and Agriculture Division of the Planning Commission for the project ‘Setting up GIS facilities in Agriculture Division of the Planning Commission and e-Government Survey’. It is a sub-project of the Support to Information and Communication Technology (SICT) Program.

The training was given in six major categories on Desktop ArcGIS, ArcView, GPS and advanced training on ArcGIS using Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst and Image Analyst. The development and maintenance of the GIS database was also part of the training program for GIS database query, tabular data manipulation, editing and data representation. The training also aimed at helping participants learn about the use of the Agriculture Resource Information System (ARIS) software, so that the information can be used in their day-to-day work and for enhancing the overall performance of the officials of the Agriculture Division. The training will help the officials scrutinize projects and facilitate easy sectoral prioritization and allocation through analyzing information in the ARIS.

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- CEGIS presents Bangladesh report on Cyclone Sidr

Mr Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS recently attended the second ‘High-Level Expert Panel Meeting on Water and Disaster’ of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board (UNSGAB) in Seoul, South Korea. Mr Choudhury presented the Bangladesh report on the Cyclone Sidr at the meeting held during January 28-29, 2008.

Describing the disastrous effects of Sidr, which hit Bangladesh on 09 November 2007, Mr. Choudhury presented the government estimation of over 3000 human lives lost along with the fact that more than two million families have been affected by the event. He further presented the impact on different sectors, informing that more than 8.9 million people have been affected in 30 districts with over 55 thousand people injured and that a total damage of around USD 2.3 billion has occurred. In terms of impact on water and sanitation, Mr Choudhury informed that during the disaster around 13 thousand mechanized water sources and another 6000 ponds used as safe water sources in coastal areas were affected. The cyclone has also severely affected forest resources (around 4 million trees affected and more than 20% of the Sundarbans destroyed/severely damaged), agriculture resources (1 million ha of crop land damaged fully or partially), fisheries resources (inundation, oxygen depletion, salinity intrusion, loss of fish stock etc), livestock resources (1.7 million lost), infrastructure (1.5 million houses damaged in 26 districts, 17 thousand educational institutions fully or partially damaged in 19 districts, 8 thousand km of roads damaged in 11 districts and 1,700 bridges and culverts damaged in 3 districts). The cyclone has also affected nearly two thousand km of embankment in 15 coastal districts worth USD 70 million and has had severe impacts on inland water transport. In terms of its impact on the country’s industry, the cyclone caused national grid failure that led to a countrywide power blackout for several days resulting in considerable loss to industrial production.

Nevertheless, as Mr Choudhury pointed out in his presentation, the early warning system put in place by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) worked well enough to confine the damage to less than it could have been. As many as 44 thousand volunteers were mobilized to implement a community based warning system and 3 million people were evacuated with more than 1.5 million accommodated in cyclone shelters. Mr Choudhury also presented the details of the responses by the Government, UN agencies, and national and international NGOs who acted swiftly in the recovery phase. He concluded his presentation with the lesson learnt from the recovery phase that called for a comprehensive framework to consolidate localized small scale and targeted activities with the longer-term reconstruction and redevelopment activities.

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CEGIS held a dissemination seminar “Erosion Monitoring and Prediction of the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma Rivers of Bangladesh” on 22 April 2007. The seminar was organized under the Environmental Monitoring Information network Project for Water Resources (EMIN) and Jamuna Meghna River Erosion Mitigation Project (JMREMP) of the Ministry of Water Resources. The Hon’ble Advisor for Water Resources Maj Gen Dr A S M Matiur Rahman (Rtd) graced the seminar as the chief guest while Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources Mr Syed Mohammad Zobaer and Her Excellency the High Commissioner of Canada to Bangladesh Ms Barbara Richardson were present as the special guests. The slogan of the seminar was “Erosion Prediction for Poverty Reduction”.

CEGIS has developed methods for predicting bank erosion and morphological changes of the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma rivers. The prediction is based on dry season satellite images. The keynote illustrated that during the last 34 years (1973-2007) 88,780 ha, 27,990 ha and 38,510 ha of land have been eroded along the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma respectively. Just in 2006 as much as 1,140 ha of land, 140 ha of settlement, 635m of embankment, 2,200m of road, nine educational institutions and 3 market places were completely eroded away by the Jamuna. In the same year, the Ganges engulfed 600 ha of land, 90 ha of settlement and 250m of road while the Padma took 460 ha of land, 120 ha of settlement and 3480m of road. CEGIS’ predictions for 2007 indicate that 1380 ha of land, 220 ha of settlement, 3360m of embankment, 5160m of road, 4 educational institutions and 2 market places will be eroded by the Jamuna. The Ganges will be responsible for the erosion of 720 ha of land, 55 ha of settlement and 570m `of road while the Padma will engulf 660 ha of land, 150 ha of settlement, 3930m of road, nine educational institutions, five market places and one union office. The predictions made by CEGIS help different organizations take necessary measures for maintaining existing bank protection structures and plan new ones. This leads to the reduction of erosion related suffering and consequent poverty of the community.

Several presentations were also made at the technical session of the seminar, chaired by Mr. Kazi Golam Mustofa, Director General, Water Resources Planning Organization. Professor M Fazlul Bari, Head, DWRE, BUET made a presentation on “Long-term erosion Process of the Jamuna River”. Mr. Maminul Haque Sarkar, Head, Morphology Division, CEGIS gave a description of the severity of erosion and its technical background. Mr. Knut Oberhagemann, Team Leader, JMREMP, BWDB explained the uses of erosion prediction for riverbank management. The participants actively took part in the discussions that followed the presentations.

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Maj. Gen. Dr A S M Matiur Rahman (Rtd), Hon’ble Advisor, Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, Water Resources, and Religious Affairs, visited CEGIS on 4 April 2007. Mr Syed Mohammad Zobaer, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of CEGIS was present during the visit.

On the occasion, several presentations were made on the overall activities of CEGIS. The Advisor also observed some computer demonstrations on the unique capacity of CEGIS in the fields of integrated environmental analysis, GIS, RS, database and IT used to implement the projects of different clients. The Advisor appreciated the efforts of the professionals of CEGIS, especially their capability in GIS and RS and their dedication to the production of scientifically independent and quality services for the country. He emphasized the importance and need of the utilization of CEGIS’ expertise in developing and managing the human and natural resources of the country.

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His Excellency the Ambassador of The Netherlands to Bangladesh, Mr. Kees Beemsterboer visited the CEGIS office on 26th February. He was accompanied by Mr. N. Niels Veenis, First Secretary, Water Sector.

During the visit, the Executive Director, CEGIS, Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, gave a briefing on the past and current activities of CEGIS. After the briefing, H.E. the Ambassador was given a tour of the CEGIS premises. Various CEGIS professionals presented their work in diverse fields such as river morphology and predictions, spatial databases (e.g. NWRD, ICRD, SOLARIS), impacts of climate change induced sea level rise, community based flood information dissemination. H.E. the Ambassador appreciated CEGIS and highlighted the strong ties that CEGIS has with the Government of The Netherlands, as this independent Trust had originated from a development project of the GoB that was funded by the Dutch from 1995 to 2002. Mr. Niels Veenis also commended CEGIS work and appreciated the fact that CEGIS sees itself as a service provider and is developing and maintaining its human resources accordingly.

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CEGIS has been selected by UNICEF as a Social Research Agency to evaluate all interventions made under the Flood Emergency Response Project, including its O&M activities. This project, completed in June 2006, had been undertaken by UNICEF in association with the Department of Public Health Engineering, the NGO Forum and nine other NGOs in response to the Government of Bangladesh’s request for emergency relief and rehabilitation support to mitigate the losses caused by the flood of 2004.

The purpose of the evaluation is to find out the social, institutional and interventional strengths and weaknesses of the Flood Emergency Response System (FERS) developed under the project. The evaluation findings are expected to guide relevant organizations in conducting successful O&M programmes with FERS during major floods in Bangladesh.

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CEGIS organized a seminar on “Remote Sensing, GIS and Database Support to Water Sector” on 14 February 2007 for the project design officials of BWDB. The purpose of the seminar was to demonstrate the importance of RS-GIS based data management and analysis for improved water resource project planning and design. An overview was given of how CEGIS could help the BWDB design offices with its unique expertise in RS and GIS and some examples of RS-GIS and database applications to water resource projects were presented at the seminar.

The seminar was attended by 43 BWDB officials including superintending engineers, executive engineers, sub-divisional engineers, assistant engineers and programmers.

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CEGIS has been engaged by the Agriculture Division of the Planning Commission on “Setting up GIS facilities in the Agricultural Division of the Planning Commission and e-Government Survey” under the “Support to ICT Task Force Program (SICT) Project”. Under this sub project, the Agricultural Division will be enriched with the establishment of a GIS based Customized Application Software, comprising metadata, and a web-based Project Information Management System. The database system will hold a large amount of data and information from different government, non-government and international agencies.

The overall objective of the project is to assist and enhance the efficiency of the officials in the different wings of the Agriculture Division.

The specific objectives of the project are as follows:

• Establish a GIS based application software
• Development of a Web based Project Information Management System
• Provide adequate in-class and on-the-job GIS training for planners
• Develop a geo-spatial database system
• Develop a metadata system that will enable planners to get information about the necessary data/information produced or stored by different organizations.

The main output of the study is a GIS based information system. The system will assist the planners of the Agriculture Division in decision-making for planning, evaluation and monitoring of different development projects:

• GIS based Project Information Management System
• Web based customized GIS application software. It will be an integrated system containing following five modules: Crop, Food, Forest Fisheries & Livestock, Rural Development & Institution and Irrigation module
• Geo-spatial database with metadata system
• Required hardware & system software
• GIS Training for the planners at entry and advance level
• Technical documents and user manuals

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CEGIS recently organized a seminar in Dhaka on “Use of Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management”. The objective of this seminar, held on November 26, 2006, was to disseminate information to some of the key players in water sector development the benefits of remote sensing technology for water resources management in Bangladesh. A total of 124 participants from the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) and the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) attended the seminar.

Some examples of application of remote sensing data and services to various activities in the water sector and the aims thereof were presented to get feedback from users on the problems and prospects of the technology in this sector.

The seminar was addressed by the Chief Guest Mr Syed Mohammad Zobaer, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh as well as Special Guests Mr H S Muzaddad Faruque, Director General, WARPO, and Mr Sharif Rafiqul Islam, Director General, BWDB.

The Keynote on “Use of Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management” was delivered by Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director CEGIS. Mr. Choudhury spoke about the importance of remote sensing and the details of how it works.

Afterwards an in-depth discussion on the key note was held by Mr. Abdul Baten, PSO, WARPO, Mr Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, Director, CDSP, BWDB, Md Sajidul Karim Chowdhury, Superintending Engineer, P&FFC, BWDB Mr A H M Kauser, Director, Planning-III, BWDB, Mr Dhali Md Abdul Qaium, Director, Planning-II, BWDB, Mr Md Humayun Kabir, Project Director, EFRP, Phase-II, BWDB, Mr Md Azizul Haque, Director, Planning-I, BWDB, and Mr Md Habibur Rahman, Chief Planning, BWDB.

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A delegation, headed by the honorable State Minister for Land, Government of Bangladesh, was invited by the Imatera Digital Image Services (IDIS) to Malaysia in July, 2006. The purpose of the visit was to exchange experiences in the context of the “Computerization of Land Management and Registration System (CLMS) Project” of the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (NRE) of Malaysia.

The visit was initiated due to the interest of the Malaysian Government in automating the land related activities of the Ministry of Land, Bangladesh. CLMS can respond to the urgent need in Bangladesh to resolve land ownership conflicts. It can also help improve land revenue collection as well as public service by providing immediate land information (online access), etc. The expected benefits to the public include faster approval of land transfers, achievement of land transfers and related services in a short time.

During the delegation’s visit, the Ministry of Land expressed its interest in receiving the expertise and assistance of the Malaysian Government for setting up a computerized land management system in Bangladesh.

The Keynote on “Use of Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management” was delivered by Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director CEGIS. Mr. Choudhury spoke about the importance of remote sensing and the details of how it works.

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The Global Water Partnership South East Asia (GWPSEA) together with the Philippine Water Partnership (PWP) hosted a two-day Regional Conference on Water Financing on 30-31 May 2006 at Manila, Philippine. The theme of the conference was "Addressing Financing Challenges through Good Governance". The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was the principal sponsor for the conference. The GWP SA nominated and the Philippine Water Partnership sponsored the Executive Director of CEGIS, Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury’s participation in the conference.

The conference brought together various stakeholders in the water sector to discuss critical and pressing financing issues in the water sector within the regional context. Eleven technical sessions spread over two days offered the participants an opportunity to present many case studies ranging from Innovative Financing Mechanisms to Lenders' Programs and Perspectives as well as different current solutions and models. About 40 speakers from varying fields of discipline and more than 200 participants from the Philippine and abroad representing both the public and private sectors participated in the event.

ADB’s future plan for financing the water sector was outlined at the conference. ADB has formulated a “Water Financing Program” incorporating its decade-long experiences in water financing, reforms and capacity building. There is a plan to double its investments during 2006-2010 with a contribution of more than US$2 billion per annum. These increased investments will focus on three main areas: rural and urban water services and management of water in the river basin. The program seeks to provide 200 million people with access to safe and affordable drinking water, 100 million people with sanitation and 40 million rural dwellers with improved irrigation services for their livelihoods. The program will also reduce the risk of flooding for 100 million people and introduce integrated water resources management in 25 river basins in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Keynote on “Use of Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management” was delivered by Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director CEGIS. Mr. Choudhury spoke about the importance of remote sensing and the details of how it works.

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CEGIS has recently provided support to a “Short course on Water and Flood Management for Journalists”. The course was jointly organized by the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) and the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of BUET, with support from the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), and the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services. The course was held at PIB during March 27 – 29, 2006. In total, 27 journalists took part in the course.

The objective of the course was to enhance the reporting capability of the journalists in covering water and flood management issues in Bangladesh. Besides providing partial financial support, CEGIS also provided resource persons for the course.

The Executive Director, Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury delivered a lecture on ‘Water sector infrastructures” and Mr. Mollah Md. Awlad Hossain delivered a lecture on ‘Dissemination of flood information’. The lectures were well received by the participants. In general, the course was appreciated by the attending journalists.

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Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director of CEGIS recommends strengthening people’s participation in disaster management and upgrading coastal embankments to provide greater security. Speaking recently at a seminar on “Disaster Management in Bangladesh” organized by the Alumni Association of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr. Choudhury further recommended a national master plan to check river erosion as it is one of the major causes of poverty.

For the management of flood defense in Bangladesh, Mr. Choudhury recommended:

• Rationalizing of existing flood defense systems
• Upgrading of coastal embankments to provide greater safety to cyclonic surges and climate change
• Strengthening people’s participation in the O&M of flood defense systems

For erosion management Mr. Choudhury recommended:

• Bank protective measures, although they are expensive and require a long time to implement
• Monitoring of erosion for the entire river systems of Bangladesh
• Use of erosion prediction tools for the optimum use of available funds

The seminar discussed issues such as preparation of Bangladesh for cyclone and flood management, and tackling disasters such as earthquakes and arsenic contamination for which the country needs both financial and technical assistance. The Minister for Food and Disaster Management, Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf was Chief Guest at the seminar.

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Mr. S.M Jahrul Islam visited CEGIS for the first time on 11th August, following his recent posting as the Secretary-in-Charge of the Ministry of Water Resources. The purpose of his visit was to get acquainted with CEGIS, its activities and staff.

Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Executive Director, CEGIS gave a presentation on CEGIS’ activities. The Secretary showed keen interest in many of the projects currently undertaken by the organization. When later, he toured the office building he had the opportunity to observe in person the activities of the staff who explained their work to him in detail.

The Secretary was also briefed on the river morphology prediction activities of CEGIS as well as projects like the Integrated Water Resources Management Framework. He saw the landuse maps that CEGIS has developed for the Barind Tract and for the Khulna region under an ADB project.

The secretary expressed his appreciation of CEGIS’ activities. He said that he saw possibilities for CEGIS and that he would extend his support for the various ventures of the organization.

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