Book Info
The Government of Bangladesh approved in 2017 the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2010, prepared with the financial and technical assistance of the Netherlands. This book offers an analysis of this plan, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. It appreciates the plan's long-term perspective and the compilation of knowledge, offered in the form of twenty-six baseline studies that are helpful for further research. The book also notes the recognition by the Plan of the possibility of alternative philosophies regarding water development. At the same time, the review notes the Plan's lack of appropriate formulation of its tasks; biased appraisal of Bangladesh's past water development experience; ineffective treatment of the transboundary issues; partial attention to the Netherlands' delta management experience; and the reluctance to follow consistently the water development philosophy that is more appropriate for Bangladesh. As a result of these weaknesses, the Plan could not give birth to its own plan of action and instead relied on pre-existing project proposals of the implementing agencies to put together its project portfolio. Instead of ushering in a new stage, the Plan thus left the water development trajectory of the country, by and large, the same as before. The book urges a reexamination and revision of the Delta Plan.
S.NAZRUL ISLAM
S. Nazrul Islam, Chief of Development Research of the United Nations, received his Ph. D. in economics from Harvard University and Masters from Moscow State University. He also studied economics at Dhaka University. During his long teaching career, Islam taught economics at Dhaka University, Harvard University, Emory University, Kyushu University, and St. Johns University. Islam made his mark on research in several areas of economics, including growth, transition, development, and environment. He has published twenty books and numerous articles in reputed international journals. In recent years, Islam devoted more of his research to issues of the environment, including rivers. He developed a novel conceptual framework for discussion of river policies and has applied it to analyzing water development experiences