The proposed Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 might face similar fate like those of Detailed Area Plan (DAP) and Strategic Transport Plan (STP) due to influence of 'political power combined with commercial interest', an eminent planner feared Thursday.
He said that formulating a project was easy but political power and commercial interests were the biggest obstacles to implement any pro-people project.
Chairman of the experts panel on Delta Plan 2100 Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury, also an advisor to the past caretaker government, expressed apprehension over the fate of the plan at a seminar.
"We formulated DAP and STP for a planned Dhaka city but could not implement due to unwillingness of the political power combined with business interests," said Prof Jamil, who also led the formulation process of ill-fated STP and DAP.
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in collaboration with General Economics Division (GED) of Bangladesh Planning Commission organised the seminar titled "Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100" at BIISS auditorium in the city.
Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 is a very ambitious and comprehensive project covering all aspects, according to Prof Jamil.
He expressed concern that the project would depend on foreign consultants unless the delta plan considers details about the people and their training before going for implementation process.
He also expressed concern over the feasibility of the long-duration project as the world was changing rapidly. "We don't know where the world would go in 2100. The project should be adaptable when it needs," he added.
Water Resources Minister Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud said the delta plan would be the first holistic approach to water safety and management, poverty alleviation and long-term development.
He said that 93 per cent of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basins would be controlled from outside of Bangladesh. "There must be regional cooperation to resolve Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basins water sharing and management," he said.
He said that the government took many projects which were demand-driven but now the government became capable to take projects which were feasible, well researched. He also said that the delta plan would mitigate the losses of climate change effect.
Speaking at the seminar, state minister for planning and finance Muhammad Abdul Mannan said the Netherlands was funding the project but there were huge differences between the deltas in the Netherlands and Bangladesh.
He said the Bengal delta was continually changing and was much more complex than the Dutch delta.
He urged the General Economic Division (GED) to disseminate the detailed information to the people having rights to know about the impact of the project.
The proposed Tk 2,978 billion Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 is a 83-year comprehensive, integrated and holistic, and long-term plan for Bangladesh Delta with vision and strategy to reach optimum level of water safety and food security and sustained economic growth.
Major funds for the projects will come from the Netherlands government.
BIISS director general Major General A K M Abdur Rahman delivered the address of welcome while Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad, chairman of BIISS Board of Governors, delivered the introductory remarks and chaired the inaugural session.
Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Vice-Chancellor, University of Asia Pacific, chaired and summed up the second session. Two papers were presented at the seminar by Dr. Shamsul Alam, member (senior secretary) of General Economics Division (GED).
The first paper was titled "Overview of BDP 2100: Process and Methods, Hotspots, Opportunities and Challenges, Context, Vision and Goals of BDP 2100" and the second one was titled "Overview of BDP 2100 - Strategies, Interventions, Investment Planning, Financing, Governance and Institutions, Monitoring and Evaluation. Follow-up Project".
The papers presented the details of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100.
Professor Dr. M. Monowar Hossain, executive director, Institute of Water Modeling (IWM); Professor Dr. Md. Munsur Rahman, Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and Engr. Md. Mahfuzur Rahman, director general, Bangladesh Water Development Board, among others, also spoke at the seminar.
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