61 more dists to be brought under irrigation, flood-control systems

During this phase, 300 sub-projects will be undertaken to bring 180,000 to 200,000 hectares of arable land under integrated water resource management structures meant for preserving water for irrigation as well as controlling floods and waterlogging.

These structures will have canals, embankments, sluice gates, regulators, flap-gates and box-sluices, suiting the needs of an area.

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Project officials hoped that about 280,000 families of farmers would reap the benefits on implementation of this phase by December 2009.

The second-phase work would cost Tk 425 crore, with funds expected from Asian Development Bank and the governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh.

Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has been implementing the project with support from the ADB, the Netherlands and International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The first phase was implemented between 1996 and 2002 at a cost of Tk 300 crore.

A total of 280 sub-projects were implemented in the first phase, covering about 165,000 hectares of land and benefiting 142,300 families, project officials told a group of journalists at LGED Bhaban recently.

The second phase would be extended to all districts, excepting three hill districts. Letters have been sent to union parishad offices across the country, inviting sub-projects, which will be scrutinised on the basis of set criteria.

Community participation and ownership in implementation and maintenance of every sub-project made the project different from many other ventures under government auspices.

Institutional arrangements are in place to ensure local people's participation in project selection, planning and designing, execution and post-implementation maintenance, a senior executive of the project said.