Water Resources Minister Md. Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee today spoke as the chief guest at a national seminar at the National Press Club. Photo : PID

DHAKA, April 29, 2026 (BSS) - Water Resources Minister Md. Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, MP today said integrated and effective measures, including creation of green belts, construction of sustainable embankments and building adequate cyclone centres, must be taken to protect coastal people.

He said this while speaking as the chief guest at a national seminar titled "Bangladesh will survive if the coast survives," organised by Coastal Development Foundation at the National Press Club here, marking the remembrance of the devastating April 29, 1991, according to a press release. 

Mentioning that people of the coastal region have to survive fighting with nature, the minister said it is necessary to work in combine to save the coast from cyclones, tidal surges, storms, floods and inundation.

He said Bangladesh is geographically among the six most disaster prone regions of the world, and because of its location, the people of the country have long lived with natural calamities such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and tidal surges.

He added that the cyclone of 1991 was the most devastating in the history of Bangladesh, which hit the coastal areas of Cox's Bazar, Maheshkhali, Kutubdia, Banshkhali, Anwara, Chakaria, Sandwip, Sitakunda and Hatiya.

Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee further said when the cyclone struck on April 29, 1991, the government was only three months old, and under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, the government faced the situation with great foresight.

He also said the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, is reviving the canal excavation programme of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman. 

In the next five years, 20,000 kilometres of rivers, canals, ponds and water bodies will be excavated and re-excavated, he said, adding that 25 crore trees will also be planted during this tenure, which will create a green belt in the coastal region.

Chairman of Coastal Development Foundation and Professor of Chittagong University Dr Mohammad Kamal Hossain presided over the function and presented the keynote paper. 

Member of Parliament from Cox's Bazar-4 Shahjahan Chowdhury, Member of Parliament from Cox's Bazar-2 Alamgir Md Mahfuz Ullah Farid, Member of Parliament from Chattogram-16 Principal Maulana Zahirul Islam, and Member of Parliament from Chattogram-9 Abu Sufian joined the event as special guest.