Reclaiming land from the sea
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Enamul Haque
SUBSTANTIAL land masses have surfaced in the Bay, off the Bangladesh coast. Some of these completely surfaced land masses have human habitations.
Others, remaining submerged during tides and surfacing with the ebbing of the tide are likely to gain in elevation to be permanently joined to the mainland. Indeed, much of present day Bangladesh, notably the districts of Faridpur, Barisal, Noakhali, Patuakhali were formed in this manner over time.
More, land masses are expected to rise from the sea in the future. But the slow natural process can be accelerated and the technology for it is not so prohibitive or complex. Bangladesh needs to speed up the process of land reclamation by establishing cross dams designed to accelerate deposition of silt in accreted or nearly accreted areas, instead of allowing the currents to waste the sediments away.
The country is likely to get a positive response from the international community to its request for funds and technical support for the project if it can show that it is keen to reclaim more land and ready for the endeavour under a systematic policy framework. Holland remains unrivalled in reclaiming land out of the sea. It had a situation far worse than Bangladesh.
As much of Holland was below the sea level, during the high tides and storms in the sea it went under flood waters. To be able to survive the Dutch developed sophisticated engineering to permanently reclaim vast stretches of land from the sea. The Dutch had erected secure barriers or sea walls to keep the Netherlands dry.
Because of its better elevation Bangladesh may not have to embark on projects on the scale as Holland had to. Bangladesh can utilise its reservoir of manpower to develop simpler projects to get similar results. For the purpose it needs a time-bound and result-oriented framework of assistance and consultation with that country. Besides, Bangladesh can request the international community for the funds for the project.
The developed countries, specially the United States, are the main contributors to global warning which could affect Bangladesh. These countries could, therefore, help Bangladesh in projects designed to enlarge and secure its coastal areas. If external aid is not forthcoming, the government should proceed, relying on its manpower resource, to build the dams and other structures needed to accelerate reclamation of land from the sea.
SUBSTANTIAL land masses have surfaced in the Bay, off the Bangladesh coast. Some of these completely surfaced land masses have human habitations.
Others, remaining submerged during tides and surfacing with the ebbing of the tide are likely to gain in elevation to be permanently joined to the mainland. Indeed, much of present day Bangladesh, notably the districts of Faridpur, Barisal, Noakhali, Patuakhali were formed in this manner over time.
More, land masses are expected to rise from the sea in the future. But the slow natural process can be accelerated and the technology for it is not so prohibitive or complex. Bangladesh needs to speed up the process of land reclamation by establishing cross dams designed to accelerate deposition of silt in accreted or nearly accreted areas, instead of allowing the currents to waste the sediments away.
The country is likely to get a positive response from the international community to its request for funds and technical support for the project if it can show that it is keen to reclaim more land and ready for the endeavour under a systematic policy framework. Holland remains unrivalled in reclaiming land out of the sea. It had a situation far worse than Bangladesh.
As much of Holland was below the sea level, during the high tides and storms in the sea it went under flood waters. To be able to survive the Dutch developed sophisticated engineering to permanently reclaim vast stretches of land from the sea. The Dutch had erected secure barriers or sea walls to keep the Netherlands dry.
Because of its better elevation Bangladesh may not have to embark on projects on the scale as Holland had to. Bangladesh can utilise its reservoir of manpower to develop simpler projects to get similar results. For the purpose it needs a time-bound and result-oriented framework of assistance and consultation with that country. Besides, Bangladesh can request the international community for the funds for the project.
The developed countries, specially the United States, are the main contributors to global warning which could affect Bangladesh. These countries could, therefore, help Bangladesh in projects designed to enlarge and secure its coastal areas. If external aid is not forthcoming, the government should proceed, relying on its manpower resource, to build the dams and other structures needed to accelerate reclamation of land from the sea.