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| Editorial | Acknowledgement
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DEDICATION
This Documentation is being dedicated to
Late Mowlana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani
who led the Historic Farakka Long March on 16
May, 1976 and sacrificed his entire life for the cause
of the sufferings of people of Bangladesh. |
OUR
GRATITUDE
We would like to recall with profound gratitude
Shaheed President Ziaur
Rahman
who first, in 1976, raised the Farakka issue in the
United Nations.
Also, We would like to expresses
our deep appreciation to her Excellency Prime
Minister
Begum Khaleda Zia
for voicing on Oct 1, 1993, in details the just concern
of the Bangladeshi people due to Farakka Barrage in
her speech at the
United Nations General Assembly. |
IFC is presenting to Honourable Prime Minister Begum
Khaleda Zia, the book entitled "National Documentation
on the Problems of Arsenic and Farakka" at her
office on Monday, 4 August, 2003. Seen in the picture
are: Mr. Atiqur R. K. Eusufzai, Chairman, IFC, Mr.
Sayed Tipu Sultan, Secretary General, IFC and Professor
Jasim Uddin Ahmad, Editor & Vice Chancellor, Jahangirnagar
University, Savar, Dhaka & President, IFC Bangladesh.
Among others present in the ceremony are, Mr. Sadeq
Khan, Professor Dr. Syed Safiullah, Mr. Zafrulla Chowdhury,
Engr. Dr. S. I. Khan, Mrs. Nazma Ahmed and Mr. Harunur
Rasheed. |
| Also, we would
like to express our profound gratitude and sincere
thanks to
The Honorable Prime Minister
Begum Khaleda Zia
of the Government of the People's Republic of
Bangladesh
for her inspiration to the activities of
International Farakka Committee, Inc. NY, U.S.A.
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| BY EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor: Professor Dr. Jasim Uddin Ahmad
Members: Mr.Sadeq Khan,
Professor Dr. Syed Safiullah, Dr. S. I. Khan, Engr.
Dr. Kazi Ali Azam, Mr.Atiqur R. K. Eusufzai, Mr.Sayed
Tipu Sultan |
| Contents
Editorial, Professor Dr.
Jasim Uddin Ahmad
The Activities of International Farakka
Committee, Sayed Tipu Sultan
International Conference on the Problems
of Surface and Groundwater Management,
Arsenic Contamination, and Desertification
Syndrome in Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1998
Goodwill Messages
Reports on the '1998 Dhaka' Conference,
Nazma Ahmad, Md. Awlad Hossain Khan and
Mohammad Majibur Rahman
Recommendations
Plan of Action for National Water Management,
S. I. Khan
Program of the International Conference
Papers Presented
Keynote Paper Water Resources Management
in Bangladesh, Jahir Uddin Chowdhury
Biosphere III : The Site of Unprecedented
Ecocide in the Ganges Basin, Miah Mohammad
Adel
Geochemical Mapping and Speciation and
Mitigation of Arsenic in the Groundwater
of Faridpur Municipality, Syed Safiullah
and Jasim Uddin Ahmad
A New Challenge for Bangladesh : Arsenic,
Kazi Ali Azam
Bullying Small Ones/Human Rights Violation
in Bangladesh, M. Anwarul Haque
Drinking Water and Air Pollution Problem
in U.S.A. and Bangladesh, Golam F. Akhter
Acid Rain, Lead Pollution, and Correlation
between Lead and Arsenic Concentration
in Bangladesh, Jasim Uddin Ahmad
Abstracts of Papers Presented
Groundwater Arsenic Contamination and
Sufferings of the People of Bangladesh,
D. Chakraborti et al.
Arsenic Poisoning in Bangladesh, Nazrul
Islam
Related Papers
Water Treaty Without Water, M. Muniruzzaman
Miah
Impacts of Farakka Barrage, Asafuddowlah
Floods and the Diminished Flow of Rivers
in Bangladesh-Case Point Farakka, Syed
Safiullah
Expatriate of Bangladesh and Farakka Issue
: A Personal Note, Sufian A. Khondker
Arsenic Poising in Bangladesh and Arsenic
Speciation in Urine as a Tool for Patients
Screening, Mohammad Alauddin
Gender Discrimination in Areas of Arsenic
Contamination in Groundwater in Bangladesh,
Nazma Ahmad
Effects of Arsenic Toxicity in Mammals
Including the Human Subjects, Md. Khalilur
Rahman
Arsenic, a Massive Killer : Who is to
be Blamed!, Atiqur R. K. Eusufzai
Water Diversion, Arsenic Peril, and the
Role of Bangladeshi Expatriates to Mitigate
Arsenic Mass Poisoning in Bangladesh,
Sayed Tipu Sultan
International Seminar on Farakka Agreement,
Arsenic Problem, Natural Gas, Transit,
and other Related National Issues of Bangladesh,
Hotel LaGuardia Marriott, New York, 1997
Messages
Climate Changes and Threaten Health as
Consequences of Farakka Barrage, S. Taseer
Hussain and Raymond L. Hayes
International Farakka Committee : An Urgent
Appeal to the World Conscience
International Farakka Committee : An Urgent
Appeal for Permanent Solution of the Farakka
Barrage Problem, letter to P. V. Narasimha
Rao
International Seminar on Farakka Barrage,
Columbia University, New York, U.S.A.,
1993
Messages
Geomorphic Impacts on Alluvial Rivers
due to Reduction in Low-Season Discharge
with Special Reference to the Ganges River,
Daryl B. Simons
Affects on River Mechanics due to Reduction
in Low-Season Discharge, E. V. Richardson
Environmental and Morphological Impacts
on a River Basin Caused by the Construction
of a Dam or a Barrage, Cesar Mendosa
The Farakka Barrage and Its Effects on
the Geology of the Bengal Basin, David
E. Alexander
Domestic Solutions to Farakka Problem
in Geologic Perspective, M. Khalequzzaman
Farakka Barrage and Implication under
International Law, Bushra Musa Jafar
Towards a Solution of the Ganges Water
Dispute through Regional Cooperation,
Sayyid A. Karim
Integrated Water Resources Planningfor
an International River Basin - A Case
Study, Alvin S. Goodman
Augmentation of Low-Flow on the Ganges-The
Kosi High Dam, Victor J. Galay
The Value of Cooperation in Resolving
International River Basin Disputes, Peter
P. Rogers
Farakka Barrage and Opinions of the World
Leaders, Ashraful Islam
Water Treaty 1996 and Comments, Farakka
Dam Action Committee of Calgary-Canada
Annextures
In Defence of the Environment, Sadeq Khan
Top Dying at the Sunderbans : Effect of
Farakka and Acidity, Md. Sayedur Rahman
Some News Items from Home and Abroad
Sharing Ganges Waters, India and Bangladesh
: Test the Depth of Cooperation
New Bangladesh Disaster : Wells That Pumps
Poison
National Action Urged
Permanent Solution to Water Sharing Sharing
Issue Stressed
India Approves Massive Barrage Upstream
Few Rare Pictures of Maulana Bhasani,
the Initiator of Historic Farakka Long
March
The Farakka Dam
Drying Ganges and the Hardinge Bridge
Pictorial Presentation of the Important
Activities of IFC |
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| EDITORIAL
On July 18-19, 1998, International Farakka Committee
(IFC), Inc., NY, U.S.A., and Institution of Engineers
Bangladesh (IEB) jointly organized an International
Conference on the 'Problems of Surface and Groundwater
Management, Arsenic Contamination, and Desertification
Syndrome in Bangladesh'. The conference was well attended.
A former U.S. Congressman, scientists and experts,
policy planners of the Government, political leaders,
leaders of opposition and NGOs attended the conference.
National and international experts presented their
papers in technical sessions. In the plenary session
of the conference, 10-point recommendations were unanimously
adopted and a draft for national water management
plan was finalized.
First a decision was taken to publish the proceedings
of 1998 Dhaka Conference. Due to unavoidable circumstances,
the publication was delayed by a few years. We therefore
decided to include a few important papers and documentations
and awareness-creating activities which were not presented
in the conference. We also updated the conference
papers and renamed the publication as 'National Documentation
on the Problems of Arsenic and Farakka'.
It is a well-known fact both nationally
and internationally that Bangladesh faces two major
catastrophe, Arsenic Poisoning in Groundwater and
Desertification Syndrome, due to adverse impact of
the Farakka Barrage. Withdrawal of water from Ganges
(Padma) by India has started to affect the lives and
environment of northern Bangladesh, apart from its
devastating effects in the south. Therefore, two important
articles about the impacts and consequences of the
Farakka Treaty have been included.
Arsenic poisoning is a matter of grave
concern now. It is one of the biggest outbreaks of
poisoning in the present era and about more than half
of the population of the country is at risk of arsenic
poising. A report by World Health Organization predicts
that within a few years, one out of 10 adult deaths
across much of southern Bangladesh could be from cancer
triggered by arsenic. Tens of millions of people are
at risk. We have therefore included a few important
articles on arsenic related hazards from experts,
although they were not presented in 1998 Conference.
International Farakka Committee is making tremendous
efforts for mobilizing international opinion on these
two major issues of concern for Bangladesh. Two articles,
'Arsenic, a Massive Killer - Who is to be Blamed!
' by IFC Chairman, Atiqur R. K. Eusufzai, and 'Water
Diversion, Arsenic Peril, and the Role of Bangladeshi
Expatriates to Mitigate Arsenic Mass Poisoning in
Bangladesh' by Sayed Tipu Sultan, Secretary General
of IFC, have been included in this volume as evidence
of the role of IFC in mobilizing international opinion
to save the lives of millions in Bangladesh.
Earlier IFC had also organized two important
International Seminars on 'Farakka Agreement, Arsenic
Problem, Natural Gas, Transit, and other related national
issues of Bangladesh', at Hotel LaGuardia, New York,
1997, and on 'Farakka Barrage' at Columbia University,
New York, U.S.A., 1993. Abstracts of papers presented
in those conferences have been included in this documentation
as a matter of record.
We strongly feel and want to state categorically that
the problems of arsenic and Farakka need urgent solution
on which the very survival of millions depend, and
therefore Bangladesh as a nation and the United Nations
as well must act to prevent the consequent disaster.
The phrase 'Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD)' has, in recent years, came into coinage. Considering
the ecodisaster and untold miseries, the Farakka Barrage
has inflicted upon the upper reaches (Bihar and West
Bengal) and the lower reaches (Bangladesh) of the
Ganges, this deadly dam may be aptly called a 'Weapon
of Mass Destruction'. Its decommissioning, by invoking
of a sense of justice and eco-consciousness, will
no doubt usher in a new era of neighbourly cooperation
and prosperity in South Asia and will certainly stand
up as an example worth being emulated by the rest
of the world.
We are planning to distribute this National
Documentation to policy planners, experts and leaders
of opinion in Bangladesh, UN and other International
Organizations, members of Senate and Congress of U.S.A.,
and other concerned people in Europe and North America
to create sufficient world opinion for addressing
these problems as eco-concerns of the shared earth.
I would like to thank the members of
the Editorial Board for their sincere help and to
all the authors for their contributions.
I do hope this National Documentation
will provide valuable information and important insight
which would enable us to deal with the problems of
arsenic and Farakka. Let me conclude with the hope
that these two serious problems would be solved in
the near future, so that Bangladesh may survive and
prosper.
Professor Dr. Jasim Uddin Ahmad
Dhaka, July 2003 |
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| SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT/
REMEMBERENCE TO
LATE KAZI REZAUDDIN MOHAMMAD ZAKARIA
FOUNDER CHAIRMAN, IFC. |
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Australia
Dr. Anisuzzaman Belal, Australia
Mizanur Rahman, Australia
Iqbal Hasan Mahmood, Bangladesh
Ted Nist, Bangladesh (U.S. Embassy)
Gias Kamal Chowdhury, Bangladesh
Reazuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh
Gaziul Hasan Khan, Bangladesh
Bulbul Khan Mahbub, Bangladesh
Mahfuzul Hoque Khan, Bangladesh
Golam Quddus Mintu, Bangladesh
Abdul Hai Sikder, Bangladesh
Iftekher Ahmed Nasir, Bangladesh
Lutfur Rahman, Bangladesh
Munazzama Mustari Tania, Bangladesh
Late Syed Mehedi Hasan (Kawser), Bangladesh
Sams Chowdhury (Emon), Bangladesh
Sayed Miraj Hossain (Sohel), Bangladesh
Abul Kashem Lasker, Bangladesh
Mohammed Shahidul Alam, Bangladesh
Mohammed Abdul Hai, Bangladesh
Mohammad Ali, Bangladesh
Mushtaque Ahmed Chowdhury, Canada
Mahbub Rob Chowdhury, Canada
Abu Zubair Dara, Canada
Nur Mohammad Kazi, Canada
Ezaj Akhter Tawfique, Canada
G. M. Kibria, Italy
Syed Ali Asgar, Italy
Ayub Khan Prince, Italy
Syed Belal Hossain, Italy
Laet Mrs. Rani Kabir, U.S.A.
Sheikh Selim, U.S.A.
Touhid Rahman, U.S.A.
Naziba Islam, U.S.A.
Mahbub Alam, U.S.A.
Mominul Haque Bacchu, U.S.A.
Sheikh Raza, U.S.A.
Lazima Mahmood Lima, U.S.A.
Sheonty Sultan, U.S.A.
Tareque M. Shafi, U.S.A.
Mumu Alam, U.S.A.
Atiur Eusufzai, U.S.A.
Mohsina Alam, U.S.A.
Dhaka Bank Limited, Bangladesh
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer's Assoc., Bangladesh
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh
Monowara Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh
National Press Club, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
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