The Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) mayor has urged the Indian government not to build a barrage on the Teesta and block its water from flowing into Bangladesh.
“They (Indian government) should take steps immediately about the equal distribution of the water of all the rivers flowing from India into Bangladesh through the Sylhet region,” said Ariful Haque Chowdhury, yesterday.
“Standing in nature’s way does not send a good message to anybody. Rather, the risk of natural disasters goes up,” he said as India’s Assistant High Commissioner Somnath Halder paid a courtesy call on the ill mayor.
Promising to convey the mayor’s request to his country’s higher authorities, Somnath said bigger issues like equitable water sharing can be resolved through talks between Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of India.
Dauki Fault and Assam Fault are close by and so people in Sylhet and in India’s Assam run the risk of falling victims to earthquakes, he added, urging both the Bangladeshi and Indian governments to work jointly to reduce the risk of earthquakes.
Describing India’s Shilong as a very attractive tourist spot to Bangladeshis, he said visa processing should be simplified for them for the sake of taking the tourist industry forward.
A lot of people go to India for treatment and keeping this in mind, India should set up a visa processing centre in Sylhet, he added.
Somnath said the Indian government tried its best to issue visas to Bangladeshis. It has issued visas to Bangladeshis easily and quickly on humanitarian grounds, many times.
India’s government issues around 3500 visas every day. Of them, 2500 are issued from Dhaka, 500 from Chittagong and 400 from Rajshahi, added Somnath, who is attached to the Indian High Commission office in Chittagong.
SCC Chief Executive Officer Enamul Kabir, Chief Health Officer Dr Sudhamay Majumder, Executive Engineer Ali Akbar and Chief Conservancy Officer Hanifur Rahman were present, among others.
