'Housing area on riversides to be built after dredging, training major rivers'

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RAJSHAHI, May 8 (BSS): Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen Friday said that housing areas would be built on both sides of the major rivers after dredging and river training to help increasing water flow in the rivers as well as creating more new residential areas.
He was briefing journalists during a visit to the ongoing work on the Secondary Town Infrastructure and Flood Protection Project (2nd Phases) on the Padma riverbank at Shayampur.
Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) has been executing the 1.66km bank revetment work at a cost of Tk 290 million.
The minister said where a river was very widen in the country would be brought under the dredging activities on a priority basis.
Simultaneously, both sides of the rivers would be filled up after reducing the existing width for creating residential and industrial areas.
To this end, he said necessary process for purchasing a dredger had been completed and on arrival of the dredger the Jamuna River would be dredged first to be followed by others in phases.
Replying to a query, the minister said water of the Padma River would be conserved after constructing Ganges Barrage at Pangsha in Rajbari.
Similarly, he said need-based steps would be taken to conserve the irrigation water after re- excavating the tributaries of the mighty Padma.
He assured that the proposed North Rajshahi Irrigation Project would be executed during the tenure of the present government to help irrigation activities in the high Barind tract.