The government has built multipurpose hydraulic elevator dam (HED) for irrigation facilities by conserving spring water to control flood, protect fishery resources and create opportunities for eco-tourism and employment.
As part of the government move, a project titled, “Multipurpose Hydraulic Elevator Dam Building” on Srimai River in Chattogram'sPatia worth Tk 133 crore has been proposed in the planning commission, an official of planning commission said.
“If the project is implemented, a hydraulic elevator dam will be constructed in Srimai River of Patia Upazila of Chittagong district to save a large amount of water during the monsoon season along with spring water,” he mentioned.
Experts said that erosion can be prevented by constructing 4.400 km of bank defense on both banks of the River.
AKM FazlulHaque, Member (Secretary) of the Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Department of the Planning Commission, who is in charge of the project, said, “If the project is implemented, an 84-meter long HED dam will be constructed at Srimai River in Patia Upazila of Chittagong district. As a result, 108 hectares of land can be irrigated through water conservation during the dry season.”
Apart from this, it will be possible to control flood, protect fishery resources, create opportunities for eco-tourism and create employment opportunities in the project area by implementing riverside conservation works of 3 unions of Patia Upazila of Chittagong district, he added.
Officials of the Planning Commission said after receiving the proposal from the Ministry of Water Resources, the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting was held on October 31, 2021.
Following the recommendations given in that meeting, the project has been recommended to present in the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday, they mentioned.
Bangladesh Water Development Board will complete its implementation by December 2025 if approved, they added.
The project proposal states that due to lack of water during the dry season, the project area has to face many problems including irrigation works.
There is an opportunity to conserve a large amount of water in the monsoon season along with the spring water through the construction of dams and reservoirs in this region, which can be used later in the dry season if needed.
The HED is a new technology in various projects like water conservation and river landfilling, irrigation water conservation, increasing the carrying capacity of rivers and so on.
This technology is like a rubber dam. But as modern construction style is used, its advantages are many times more than rubber dam.
Chinese firm BIC has developed the hydraulic elevator dam (HED) technology. Several projects using this new technology have already been implemented in China.
The Ministry of Water Resources constituted a technical committee for the construction of hydraulic elevators.
The committee visited several hydraulic elevator dams located in China from 3 to 9 May 2013.
After the inspection, the committee submitted a technical report recommending the construction of at least two hydraulic elevator dams on a pilot basis in the hilly areas of the country.
Later, an expert team of BIC was invited to Bangladesh for the purpose of inspecting the possible locations of hydraulic elevator dams.
From June 22 to 29, 2015, the Chinese team visited several areas including Srimai River in Patia Upazila of Chittagong District, Mandakini River in Hathajari and FatikchariUpazilas and Maini River in Dighinala Upazila of Khagrachari District with the aim of identifying suitable sites for HED construction in the country.
The Chinese team submitted a report recommending the construction of hydraulic elevator dams on Srimai River in Patia Upazila of Chittagong and Maini River in Dighinala Upazila of Khagrachari.
The main activities of the project are conservation of 4,400 meters of river bank, 300 meters of canal digging, 210 meters of irrigation structure, 510 meters of connecting road, construction of a hydraulic elevator dam, a rest house, office building, guard room and so on.