Adhoc management plan for Haor and Haor basin in Bangladesh

Water bodies, seldom understood as wetlands but often called haors, baors and beels across the riverine Bangladesh with plenty of resources for supporting life are equally eco-environmentally important for floral and faunal equilibrium. Initiatives for development of haors are as old as domestication in there. These are conventionally managed by local population with supports from GOs and NGOs. Flash floods spill onto low-lying flood plains, inundating crops and damaging infrastructure. Water resources are thus key to address the cross-cutting issues in management of haor and haor basin. The pre-monsoon flooding control is linked to protection and post-monsoon drainage is dependent on plantation, of boro crops. The formulation of an integrated and co-ordinated approach is no doubt the best option for optimal use of the haor resources, water in particular; but under various limitations the Govt. of Bangladesh is required to adopt an adhoc management plan for haor and haor basin. The traditional method of year-to-year basis investment in the management of haor and haor basin has proven to be ineffective appalling the haor population. The immediate need for fine tuning of the prevalent institutional setting is the shift from monopoly of engineering to a mix of engineering and non-engineering components in the approach; given the thrusts on planning and implementation process including mobilisation of resources. The summation of the yearly adhoc plans shall eventually be subsumed with the future long-term plan.