Bangladesh and China plan to form a joint committee for river- water management, flood protection and river-infrastructure development.
The two countries agreed Wednesday to enhance cooperation in river management and water preservation, officials said, adding that a high-level delegation of the Water Development Board will visit China right this month
The decision came when Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Yao Wen met Water Resources Adviser of the current interim government Rizwana Hasan at her office-evidently in the wake of a resume on public discussions on water-management issues, including the stalled Teesta Barrage project.
"China proposed to enhance cooperation with Bangladesh for river-water management and preservation," said Rizwana Hasan, a green campaigner and environment lawyer.
They also pledged to raise technical support and training for Bangladesh on water management and cooperation, she added.
The adviser said to address problems like climate change and environment protection Bangladesh needs cooperation from friendly countries like China.
Bangladesh and China have long been in discussion on management of three major rivers: the Brahmaputra, the Ganges and the Teesta.
The WDB delegation will discuss how the previous agreements on river-water management can be implemented, officials said.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of the water resources ministry said the meeting mainly discussed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Dhaka and Beijing on providing flood data of the Brahmaputra River, which originates from China and falls into the Bay of Bengal after crossing over India and Bangladesh.
In the meeting, cooperation regarding flood forecasting and warning on the river Brahmaputra was discussed in detail.
The Chinese diplomat told the meeting that China is "a true friend" of Bangladesh and would continue its support for smart water management, flood prevention and river-pollution management.
However, the officials said that the multipurpose Teesta River management project was not discussed in the meeting.
Bangladesh and China have an agreement on mutual cooperation in the field of water resources.
Under the agreement, China provides Bangladesh with data from three stations on the Yalung Zangbu/Brahmaputra river in its territory under which Bangladesh gets flood forecast and warning information.
The agreement regarding the data that Bangladesh receives from three stations on the Brahmaputra was to expire in July.
According to the Joint Rivers Commission, flood data from Nuxia, Nagesa and Yangkan at three Yalung Zangbu/Brahmaputra river stations located in China's territory, with the aim of developing flood forecasting and warning systems for the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh in the light of the agreement - the official flood data since June 2006.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between Bangladesh and China for a period of five years in September 2008 for data transmission. An agreement has been signed in a meeting between the two countries after five years.
The WDB also assigned Chinese firm Power China to a feasibility study on the Teesta River Water Management project but further development of the project stalled as the deposed Hasina government made a u-turn and took step to involve India with the project.
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