International cooperation in flood management

Numerous rivers crisscross Bangladesh. There are also canals and haors. So, whenever the monsoon winds cause heavy rainfall, floods are unavoidable. Again, more than 40 rivers are trans-boundary rivers shared by Bangladesh and India. Higher flow of water from upstream revivers in India to downstream rivers in Bangladesh during the monsoon also causes floods. The melting of Himalayan ice has also caused floods over Mongolia, China and India. A lower riparian country, Bangladesh has to suffer most.
Thus the catastrophic flood in Bangladesh is also a trans-boundary problem. Therefore, regional and international cooperation is a must for better flood management. The countries sharing the rivers need to cooperate with each other to minimise the damages of floods. The Bangladesh government needs to present the cost of non-cooperation to the international community. At the same time, it needs to continue talks with neighboring countries aimed at reducing the damage of floods.

Mahmuda Tumpa
Department of Management
Islamic University
mahmudasultana918@gmail.com