Affiliations: Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), House
No. 103, Road No. 1, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh | Head, Centre for International Post Graduate Studies
on Environmental Management Technical University of Dresden, Germany
Abstract: Life of the river sustains on its flow. River systems provide many
beneficial values and services, including flood mitigation, groundwater
recharge, navigation, water supplies, pollution attenuation, nutrient transport
and recycling, biological productivity, aesthetic values, and recreational
opportunities such as fishing, boating, swimming and wildlife viewing.
In-stream flow is necessary to sustain these and other utilitarian and
intrinsic values. For Bangladesh being located downstream of many rivers, it is
very important to care about the quantity and chemical as well as ecological
quality of its river water. Germany's river Elbe originates in
Czech Republic, thus the situation is comparable to the transboundary water
problems Bangladesh faces. The comparative analysis of water framework
directives and policy, plan of Germany and Bangladesh on maintaining the
in-stream flow of rivers (Surma and Teesta rivers of Bangladesh and Elbe river
of Germany) is the main focus of this paper. The study puts forward key
information and recommendations to maintain the in-stream flow of river.
