Bangladesh-Nepal JEC meeting begins in Kathmandu

The sixth meeting of the Nepal-Bangladesh Joint Expert Committee (JEC) on Harnessing of Water Resources and Mitigation of Floods and Flood Damages began in Kathmandu on Thursday.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources Kabir Bin Anwar is leading the Bangladesh delegation and Secretary for Water Resources of Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal Sagar Kumar Rai leading the Nepalese delegation in the two-day meeting, according to a Bangladesh Embassy press release.

The meeting discussed issues related to joint collaboration in the development, management and harnessing of water resources, irrigation as well as mitigation of floods in the region.

On the first day of the meeting, both the sides stressed on the importance of sharing the real time hydro-meteorological data for flood forecasting as well as basin-wide management of common rivers and to initiate joint venture projects on water resources management.

To carry out joint studies and research on harnessing water resources, mitigating floods and flood damage, the meeting decided to hold the first meeting of the Joint Technical Study Team (JTST) in Dhaka in September 2022.

Besides, the next meeting of JEC is expected to be held in Dhaka.

Earlier, Kabir Bin Anwar paid a courtesy call on the Nepalese Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal on Wednesday after arriving in Kathmandu.

The delegation is expected to visit some of the hydropower projects in Nepal during the visit.