Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources Kabir Bin Anwar has inaugurated the tree plantation programme at Padma-Gorai estuary in Kushtia on Wednesday (July 1).
According to Bangladesh Water Development Board, afforestation programme has been undertaken as part of the development of acquired land and the development of Gorai outflow at the confluence of Gorai and Padma rivers of Gorai coast.
The programme is under the ongoing Gorai excavation project. Here Forestry at the spread out areas will be developed by planting various species of trees including fruit, forest and medicinal plants in phases.
Kushtia Deputy Commissioner Aslam Hossain and other officials of the district administration and Bangladesh Water Development Board Kushtia Supervising Engineer Moniruzzaman, Executive Engineer Piyush Krishna Kundu, Gorai excavation Project Executive Engineer Tajbir Hossain and other senior officials were present.
Kabir bin Anwar when talked highlighted the programme taken by the Sheikh Hasina government to protect the biodiversity of the basin including the Great Mangrove Sundarbans in the south-west. He said Gorai must be protected. If Gorai survives, Sundarbans will survive. If this project, which is running till 2022, is implemented, it will open the door to multifaceted prosperity and possibilities besides rescuing the lost land through conservation on both sides of Gorai.
He said projects have already been undertaken to reduce the risk of erosion at Shilaidaha Kuthibari, Talbaria and erosion along the banks of Gorai River. He said the initial feasibility study for the implementation of government multipurpose development projects including construction of dredging station, rest house, ecopark on the recovered land has also been completed.
According to a source at the Water Development Board, Kushtia, a 300-meter slope protection work has already been completed in the 2019-20 financial year at an estimated cost of Tk 69 lakh to store dredged material or excavated soil / sand on the right bank of the confluence of Gorai and Padma rivers.