Speakers at a seminar have opined that comprehensive efforts need to ensure sustainable water resources management in the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHTs). For this reason, the water resources must be preserved and protected from dying and pollution.
The seminar was held under the title ‘Sustainable Water Resources Management in CHT’ at conference room of Rangamati Hill District Council on Saturday. Chattogram Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB) organised the seminar.
CHT Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Shing attended the seminar as the chief guest former state minister for CHT affairs Dipankar Talukdar attended as the guest of honour. Naba Bikram Kishore Tripura, chairman of CHT Development Board, chaired the seminar.
Secretary of Water Rsources Ministry Kabir Bin Anwar, secretary CHT Affairs Ministry Mesbahul Alam, chairman of Rangamati and Khagrachhari Hill District Council Brishaketu Chakma and Kongjuri Chowdhury, Rangamati deputy commissioner AKM Mamunur Rashid and superintendent of police Md. Alamgir Kabir were present as special guests.
Sanjeev Kumar Bhuchar and Mohammad Shahidul Islam presented keynote papers on Watersheds Management of Hindu Kush Himalaya Mountain and Sustainable Water Resources Management in CHT respectively.
Foreign delegates, government high officials from different ministries and departments, educationists from public universities, elected representatives from three hill districts, offcials from UNDP-CHTDF and local newsmen took part in the seminar.
In his speech, Bir Bahadur said that forests in the hilly region must be saved and protected from depletion and denudation at any cost to save the nation and the whole world from big catastrophe of scarcity of water in near future. To ensure sustainable water resources management in hilly areas, trees have to be planted to create dense forests in areas of water sources through afforestation programme to save and conserve them well, he added.
He further said that the project of sustainable water resources management in CHTs will be implemented.
About recent killing incidents in CHTs, he warned that nobody will be spare who are carrying illicit arms in hills. ‘Our intelligent and law enforcing agencies have all information about the armed groups in hills. So, the terrorists will not find their ways to flee when our government’s forces are launched drive against them,’ said Bahadur. In his speech, Dipankar Talukdar blamed the regional political parties for creating reign of terror, killing, abduction and extortion. Armed groups of regional political parties targeted Awami League, but they did not targeted Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP. So, their armed men killing our leaders and workers one by one, he added.
He also said that no one development programme can be taken in hilly areas until or unless recover of illegal arms and root out of terrorism in the region. Every time when the government is undertake any development project then those regional political parties oppose it, he claimed.
Naba Bikram Kishore Tripura, chairman of CHTDB, said the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has set an instance of ‘Development of Role Model’ in the world and the wave of massive development works have continued in the country.
Secretary of Water Resource Ministry Kabir Bin Anwar stressed the need for saving water sources in the hilly areas and create more forests through afforestation programme.
Traditional leader (headmen) Shanti Bikash Chakma, secretary of CHT Headmen Network (CHT-HNW) and Thoai Aung Marma suggested in the seminar for conservation of Village Common Forest (VCF) to keep unhurt the existing water sources.
