The 7th meeting of Bangladesh-Nepal Joint Expert Committee (JEC) at Water Resources Secretary Level was held in Dhaka on last Tuesday.
The Bangladesh side was led by Nazmul Ahsan, secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources of Bangladesh, and the Nepali side was led by Gopal Prasad Sigdel, secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal, reads a press release issued on Friday.
Bangladesh team leader welcomed the Nepal team leader and his delegation at the 7th meeting of JEC at Dhaka and expressed the whole hearted support of the government of Nepal during the independence of Bangladesh in 1972 and existing good relations between the two countries.
The Nepal team leader also noted the excellent state of bilateral relation between Nepal and Bangladesh and appreciated for extending warm hospitality to the delegation.
The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere to discuss various issues of mutual interest including joint collaboration in the development and management of water resources, sharing of knowledge and experience in irrigation water management of both the countries, joint studies on climate change, joint research, and studies on harnessing water resources and mitigating floods and flood damages, basin-wide management of water resources, capacity building through knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences within the professionals of both the countries in the water resources sector.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Nepal and Bangladesh in the meeting on “Sharing of Real-time Hydro-meteorological Data and Information for Flood Forecasting and Warning”.
According to the MoU, Nepal would provide real time flood related data and information for five years.
By implementing the MoU, Bangladesh would be able to provide flood forecasts with longer lead time to save more lives and properties of the people of Bangladesh.
The Nepalis team leader invited Bangladesh team leader and his delegation to visit Nepal at a mutually convenient dates for the next JEC meeting.
Earlier, on last Monday, the Nepali delegates met the honourable state minister and deputy minister of Ministry of Water Resources.