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Download PDF Water resources ministers of Bangladesh and India for the first time from today will start visiting jointly the trans-border areas affected by land erosion by the rivers shared by both countries.
The visit is designed to give the ministers a first-hand experience of the sufferings of the people of those areas which spring from natural calamities originating from the raging rivers during the monsoon, diplomatic sources said.
Bangladeshi Water Resources Minister Hafizuddin Ahmed will lead an 11-member delegation, while his Indian counterpart Saifuddin Soz is expected to lead a 16-member Indian team, official sources said.
The visit that will conclude on September 21 will be followed by a bilateral meeting in Dhaka.
“The joint team will start its visit from border areas of Agortola, West Bengal and Tripura,” a senior official of the water resources ministry told The Daily Star.
Bangladesh and India share 54 common rivers and a large number of tributaries while the state of Tripura alone shares 10 rivers.
Water resources ministry officials said the ministers will visit places through which the common rivers flow including the areas adjacent to Ichhamoti and Kalindi rivers.
They will also visit river embankments, irrigation sites and a water treatment project along the Indo-Bangla border, the officials added.
“After the visit, both sides will meet in Kolkata on September 15 and 16,” the senior official said adding that the Indian delegation will then come to visit the border points of those rivers in Bangladesh.
On September 18, they will visit the border points in Khagrachhari and Feni through which the shared rivers flow into Bangladesh.
They will later meet in Dhaka on September 19 and 20. The Indian delegation will leave Dhaka on September 21.
The decision to visit the erosion prone spots in both countries was taken during the 36th Joint River Commission meeting in September last year.
The visit had been earlier scheduled for May, but was postponed following unrest in the readymade garments sector in Bangladesh.
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