The government on Sunday inaugurated the country's first hydraulic elevator dam aiming to raise use of surface water for irrigation.
The hydraulic elevator dam has been built at Barumchara union of Anwara upazila in Chattogram district under a project of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC).
Agriculture minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque inaugurated the dam through a virtual conference at the Secretariat in the city.
Land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and agri secretary Md Nasiruzzaman also spoke at the inaugural function.
The dam has been built at a cost of Tk 210 million on pilot basis under the BADC's rubber dam building project to raise crops production by using surface water for irrigation.
The minister said many such dams will be made across the country if this one in Anwara shows expected performance.
The dam will help irrigate 3,000 hectares of lands in six unions of Anwara upazila by supplying reserves of surface water.
The area, which will be benefited by the dam, produces 13,500 tonnes of crops annually worth Tk 243 million, said an agriculture ministry release.
Director of rubber dam project of BADC, Dhirendranath Chandra Debnath, said the hydraulic dam will store fresh water from the upstream of Shikalbaha canal and will prevent entrance of saline water from the downstream of the River Sangu.
BADC chairman Mohammad Sayedul Islam chaired the inaugural programme.
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