Water Resources Minister Md Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee presided over an inter-ministerial meeting at the Water Resources Ministry meeting room at the Secretariat on Tuesday. Photo: PID

DHAKA, Feb 24, 2026 (BSS) - Water Resources Minister Md Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee today asked the ministries concerned to submit their action plans within the next three days to make the canal excavation programme visible and effective.

He made the call while speaking at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Water Resources at Bangladesh Secretariat here.

The meeting was arranged aiming to implement the countrywide 'excavation and re-excavation of rivers, canals and waterbodies' programme.

At the meeting, the water resources minister said Sheheed President Ziaur Rahman had brought a great revolution with the canal excavation programme during his lifetime. 

Due to the lack of canal excavation for a long time and the lack of irrigation system and waterlogging across the country, the suffering of the people has increased, he said. 

Anee said the incumbent government, which was elected by people, will do everything necessary for the people's welfare. 

He stressed making canal excavation sustainable and people's livelihood dependent, biodiversity conservation and formulating correct and modern strategies for waste management.

Chaired by Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anne, the meeting was attended, among others, by State Minister for Water Resources Forhad Hossain Azad, State Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and Animal Resources Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam and State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief M Iqbal Hossain.

State Minister Forhad Hossain Azad said as per the election promise, the incumbent government has undertaken a programme to dig 20,000 kilometres of canals and plant 5 crore trees in the next five years.

Noting that the Ministry of Water Resources will play a leading role in implementing canal excavation, he called for formulation of a comprehensive action plan of what the relevant ministries will do in the current fiscal year and the coming years.

The Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief will implement the planned 20,000 kilometres of 'canal-pond-waterbodies excavation and re-excavation programme' in the next five years.