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.

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.

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.

From left: Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Executive Director, CEGIS, Maj. Gen. Dr A S M Matiur Rahman (Rtd), Hon’ble Advisor, Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, Water Resources, and Religious Affairs and Mr Syed Mohammad Zobaer, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources			The Advisor visiting the Remote Sensing and GIS Divisions of CEGIS.
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.

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.

The Ambassador looking at a 50-year old map of Dhaka city. Also seen in the photo, Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Executive Director CEGIS and Mr. Sultan Ahmed.			While visiting the Remote Sensing Division of CEGIS, the Ambassador searches out his residence on a high resolution QuickBird image of Dhaka City
			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.
The Ambassador looks on as Mr. Mir Abdul Matin (right) explains how flood information is disseminated at the community level under the EMIN project. Also seen in photo (left) Mr. N. Niels Veenis, First Secretary, Water Sector

CEGIS undertakes to set up GIS facilities in the Agriculture Division of the Planning Commission

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

Seminar on "Use of Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management"

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.

Computerization of land management system: CEGIS explores opportunity with 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.

CEGIS Executive Director at Conference on 
Water Financing

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.

Short course on Water and Flood Management for Journalists

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.

People’s participation in disaster preparedness stressed by ED, CEGIS at seminar

New Secretary of MoWR visits CEGIS

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.