New Delhi, Mar 04: India has assured Bangladesh that it will take steps to provide instant data on the forecast of floods for Ganga, Brahmaputra, Teesta and Barak rivers to help authorities check the damage caused by floods downstream. India gave this assurance to the visiting Bangladesh team at a meeting of experts on flood forecasting and warning, held here to discuss hydrological data on rainfall, river water level and forecast. The Bangladesh team was led by Tauhidul Anwar Khan, member of Joint River Commission while the Indian side was led by M L Goyal, member Joint River Commission (eastern rivers) of the Government of India.
India will be providing existing rainfall data to Bangladesh on a continuous basis even when the rainfall is less than 50 mm, besides agreeing to give details of additional rainfall data in respect of rivers prone to flash floods. India has been providing these details to Bangladesh since 1972 to check flash floods.
The visiting Bangladesh team on its part offered to provide India with hydrometerological data of Dinajpur area in Bangladesh for Atrai, Purnabhaba and Tangon rivers for controlling floods in West Bengal.
Bureau Report