The country's coastal belt is highly vulnerable to the climate change effects in view of the recurrent trend of increasing salinity and storm surges, according to an expert.
The volume of water in sea is increasing due to melting glacier because of rising global temperature, which contributes to increasing salinity and inundation in the coastal region, said eminent water expert Ainun Nishat.
He made the remarks during his power point presentation on 'Climate Change and Water Management in Bangladesh' at the Climate Change and Water session of a three-day workshop at BRAC Centre Inn in the capital on Monday.
American overseas research centres — American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, American Institute of Indian Studies, American Institute of Pakistan Studies and American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies — organised the workshop titled 'Water, Waves, and Weather: Climate Change and the Future of South Asia'.
Chaired by American Institute of Bangladesh Studies chief Shelly Feldman, the session was addressed, among others, by senior lecturer of the University of Colombo Deepthi Wickramasinghe.
Ainun Nishat, vice-chancellor of BRAC University, said nearly 7,000-kilometre coastal embankment of Bangladesh was the largest manmade polder in the world.
Highlighting the present state of the country's coastal belt, he said Aus and Aman paddy would be affected in the coming days due to salinity and inundation. Although scientists have already innovated salinity- tolerant rice, they could not yet determine the level of salinity in the different areas of the coastal belt.
About flood, the water expert said that 92 per cent of catchment of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna was located outside the country while only eight per cent in Bangladesh. 'Flood water comes from Assam.'
The storm surge is another threat for the coastal belt, he said, adding that people had already started migrating from vulnerable area of the coastal region, seeking safe places to live.
Ainun Nishat, former IUCN chief, said more cyclone centres were needed in the coastal region to save lives and assets of people from natural disasters including cyclone and storm surge.
He suggested sending warnings through mobile phone among the costal people at free of cost to alert them prior to any probable disasters.
About flood management, Ainun Nishat recommended strengthening flood forecasting system, setting up more flood evacuation shelters and introducing flood insurance.
He also said that local community can play a vital role to face natural disasters including flood.
He stressed the need for strengthening institutional capacity and monitoring internal and external migration to cope with the climate change impacts and natural disasters.
Source : New Age
