BANGLADESH WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD
New Member of Sentinel Asia
Presented byA M Mustofa Sorwar
Superintending Engineer
Central GIS Directorate
Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)Sentinel Asia MembershipBrief History of BWDB
After two consecutive catastrophic floods in 1954 & 1955,
Krug Mission was appointed in 1957 with UNDP support

As per Krug Mission recommendations EPWAPDA (EastPakistan Water & Power Development Authority) wasestablished in 1959

New Building(Pani Bhaban)

After the independence of Bangladesh (1971), Water Wing
was separated from Power Wing and BWDB was born underPresidential Order in 1972.

Reformed under BWDB Act 2000, since then BWDB
managed by Governing Council (GC) with thirteen Members
headed by the Minister, Ministry of water Resources

Vision of BWDB
Vision• Sustainable development of water resources in Bangladesh throughparticipatory water management,• Protection of people's lives and property through water related disastermanagement• Improvement of socio-economic condition of the people by ensuring foodsecurity through development of irrigation system.

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Mission of BWDBMission• Flood control under strategic planning,• Development of drainage and irrigation systems• Food security & alleviation of poverty• Prevention of river erosion,• Addressing salinity intrusion problem• Land reclamation• Management of water related disasters• Addressing the adverse effects of climate change in line with integrated
coastal management;• Increasing public engagement through people’s participation in integrated
water resource management.

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Organogram of BWDB
Director General

CE(Monitoring)

Focal Point of Sentinel Asia

SE(Central GIS
Directorate)

ADG(Planning, Design& Research)

CE(Design)

CE(Hydrology)

CE(Planning)

ADG

ADG

ADG(East Region)(West Region)(Admin)CE(Central Zone,Dhaka)

CE(North Zone,Rangpur)

CE(Eastern Zone,Cumilla)

CE(North-WesternZone, Rajshahi)

CE(South-EasternZone, Chattogram)

CE(Western Zone,Faridpur)

CE(North-EasternZone, Sylhet)

CE(Southern Zone,Barishal)
CE(South-WesternZone, Khulna)

ADG(Accounts &Finance)

ADG : Additional Director General
CE : Chief Engineer
SE : Superintending Engineer

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BWDB : A unique multidisciplinary organization

Overview of water related disasters in Bangladesh• Most of the disasters are water related such as Floods, Tropical Cyclones, Storm Surge, RiverBank Erosion, Drought, Salinity Intrusion etc.
• The floods have caused devastation in Bangladesh in 1987, 1988, 1998, 2007 etc. and Cyclones
occurred in 1970, 1991, 2007, 2009 etc.
• River bank erosion is an endemic and recurrent natural hazard in Bangladesh.
Floods: four types :i. Flash Flood ii. Rain-fed Flood iii. River Flood iv. Flood due to Cyclonic Storm Surges
Cyclones: Hit the coastal regions of Bangladesh almost every year, in early summer (April‐May)or late rainy season (October‐November).
River Bank Erosion: Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna are sluggish and meander or braid. Theserivers undergo massive riverbank erosion.

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Social condition of BangladeshPopulation• One of the most densely populated countries in the world
with 1305 living per square Kilometre.
• Bangladesh population has reached 169.8 million in
2022.

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A riverine country with about 405
riversCherapunji (in INDIA)
Worlds highest rainfall•Total river length : 24,000 km•Annual Ave. Rainfall:
1200mm in NW to 5500mm inNE
•Trans-boundary rivers : 57 nos.
(54 from India and 3 fromMyanmar)•Lower riparian to all transboundary Rivers

Major Rivers
River Origin
Catchment Area of Major
About 93% catchments area lying outside Bangladesh

552,000 sq.km
1,087,000 sq.km
82,000 sq.km

FlowThe Ganges:
1,000 ~ 80,000 cumec
The Brahmaputra: 2,400 ~ 102,000 cumec
The Meghna:
500 ~ 30,000 cumec

 Annual Sediment Transport

The Ganges:
 The Brahmaputra: The Meghna:
286 Mtons
600 Mtons
1 Mtons

Total estimated sediment load 1.00 ~ 1.10 BMTCatchment of main three rivers only 7% lies within
BangladeshPhysical Setting of BangladeshAbout 1350 BCM flow generated Annually
93% flow passes through Bangladesh

GBM catchment=1.7million km2

80% in five months of monsoon

Farakka BarrageCommissioned 1974

Too much waterFloods in Bangladesh• Large area on the floodplains in the major riversof Bangladesh is flooded during the wet season.
• Every year about 20 % of the cultivable area isinundated more than one meter about 4 to 6
months period• Situation deteriorates during floods of higher
magnitude• Catastrophic floods: 1987,1988, 1998, 2004
• Casualties in 1998 floods••••••

Over 60% area inundated
Over 30 million people affectedOver 4300 km of roads damaged
Food grain loss 2.2 million tons
270 thousands fish farms washed away
More than 3000 industries were affected• Flooding reduces economical activities andenhances poverty

1998 Flood (Source: SWMC)

Impact of SLRSalinity
on Salinity
Intrusion (3rd IPCC)
Problem:Climate Change Scenario

KhulnaMongla

90 km

9 km

Hiron Point

0 SLR (Base:2005)
32 cm SLR (2050)
88 cm SLR (2100)

Source: IWM

Addressing All These Problems:
Two types of interventions Taken by BWDB• Structural Measures• Non-Structural Measures

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Structural Interventions
Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation projects
Coastal embankment, submergible embankment in Haor area
Dredging/re-excavation to increase conveyanceRiverbank Protection
Accelerated Land Reclamation
Prevention from Salinity Intrusion
Surface water retentionNon-structural Interventions
Disaster Management: Flood forecasting and warning
Disaster Management: Flood Extent mapping using RS
Hydrological data collection and survey
Erosion Prediction (planned)
Capacity Development
Mathematical Modelling
Participatory water management

Interventions of BWDB
Flood Control, Drainage andIrrigation
Riverbank ProtectionBenefited area: 1545 sq. km and irrigable area:1115 sq. km
Revetment at coast•••wireless communication

Flood forecasting

Integrated Water Resources
ManagementInternet

Indian Data
WMO
JRCWARPO

River stage

Salinity Management
Hydrological data collection andstudy

Rainfall

Telemetry/Data box / VoiceRiver Dredging
Land Reclamation

Women Empowerment
TeestaBarrageProjectDredging
at JamunaRiver
FloodForecasting
Land reclamation
fromJamunaSystem
RiverReal
Time D a t aDissemination
to the public

Radio

BMD
Weather forecast
Synoptic charts

Modem
SPARRSO
Sattelite images

Boundary estimation
Rainfal,Water level

Telephone

Fax Modem

24, 48, 72 hr
forecasts

FaxGross Area: 400 sq. km
Cultivable area: 272 sq. km
Irrigable
231
sq. kmCoastalarea:
PolderSystemwater level

manual entry

flood extent
maps

via modem

FFWC Radio Tower

Data Entry & Processing

Modelling & Mapping

Television

Dissemination
to various agencies

thanainundationmaps

GIS data layers

Groyne at Bogra

FFWC Satellite dishMuhuri
Irrigation ProjectLand reclamation
at Musapur

Bulletine

Structural Measure:
Chandpur Irrigation Project (CIP)

NAVIGATION LOCK OF CIP

Structural Measure: Rubber DamMAHAMAYA RUBBER DAM

Major Structural Interventions: till date
Number of projects implemented
Area covered by irrigation, flood control and drainage facilities

938 Nos.
65.16 lakh hectares

Area covered by irrigation facilities (139 irrigation projects implemented)

16.49 lakh hectares

Barrages (Tista, Manu, Buri Teesta and Tangon)
Land creation/reclamation
District town protected from river erosion
Bank protection works to prevent river bank erosion
Spur construction
Construction of flood wall
Length of completed embankment

4 nos.
1086.62 square km.
31 nos.
1457.24 km.
251
19.224 km.
16528 km.

a)

Coastal embankment (139 polders)

5816 km.

b)

Submersible embankment (through 99 haor/haor sub-projects)

2728 km.

c)

Other flood control embankments

7984 km.

Irrigation canal dikes
Length of irrigation canal
Length of drainage canal
Hydraulic structure
Number of Pump Houses
ClosureBridge/Culvert
Rubber Dam (Pekua, Mahamaya, Palakata, Kahua, Baggujara)
River reclamation
River dredging

3613 km.
5355 km.
4502 km.
15769 nos.
23 nos.
1428 nos.
5776 nos.
5 nos.
3081 km.
1294 km.

Data Collection:
BWDB Measurement StationsHydrological stations
SerialNo.

Type of Data

No. ofStations

Frequency of Observations

1Water Level

357

Daily 7 times (tidal)
Daily 5 times (non-tidal)

Non tidal

123

Daily/Weekly/Fortnightly

tidal

06

Fortnightly

Semi tidal

07

Dry season

Surface Water Quality

83

Monthly

Static100

Daily/Weekly/Fortnightly

Dynamic

66

Once in a year2

3
4DischargeSalinity5

Sediment

20

Weekly/Fortnightly

6

Rainfall

274

Daily

7

Metrological

2

Daily

8

Evaporation

39

Daily

Data Collection:
BWDB Measurement Stations
Hydrological stations
SerialNo.

Type of Data

No. ofStations

Frequency of Observations

1

Water Level

357

Daily 7 times (tidal)
Daily 5 times (non-tidal)

Non tidal

123

Daily/Weekly/Fortnightly

tidal

06

Fortnightly

Semi tidal

07

Dry season

Surface Water Quality

83

Monthly

Static100

Daily/Weekly/Fortnightly

Dynamic

66

Once in a year2

3
4DischargeSalinity5

Sediment

20

Weekly/Fortnightly

6

Rainfall

274

Daily

7

Metrological

2

Daily

8

Evaporation

39

Daily

CENTRAL GIS DIRECTORATEBWDB Focal Point for Sentinel Asia

Organogram of Central GIS Directorate

ACTIVITIES OF
CENTRAL GIS DIRECTORATE

Hardware and Software
ArcGIS Desktop (Advanced) 10.6.1 (Perpetual License)
ArcGIS Pro (Standard) 2.6 (Perpetual License)

GIS
Software

ArcGIS Desktop (Standard) 10.6.1 (Perpetual License)
ArcGIS Enterprise Server 10.6.1 (Perpetual License)
QGIS 3.28 (Free and Open Source Software)
Geoserver 2.18.5 (Free and Open Source Software)

Geospatial Imagery
Analysis Software

ENVI 5.5.2 (Perpetual License)

HEC-RAS 6.0 (Free but closed source)

Hydraulicand/orHydrologicalModelling
SoftwareHEC-HMS 4.8 (Free but closed source)

MIKE 11 or MIKE Hydro River (Perpetual License)

MIKE 21c (Perpetual License)

Hardware and Software
Server 1 (Web server, databaseserver, application server)

Physical Server(Location: Pani
Bhaban Data Center)

Server 2 (Application server)

LIS/SPMMISGISServer 3 (Application server, File Server)

SIMS

Application Server

Virtual Server(Will be physical verysoon)

Database Server
File Server

ArcGIS Desktop PC

Hardware and Software

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Field Survey Equipment

RTK Base Setup

Phantom 4 RTK with DRTK-229

Drone Survey

Drone survey of Polder 18-19 in Paikgacha, Khulna, Bangladesh

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Functions of Central GIS DirectorateDatabase &Inventory
Disaster Impact
Assessment
MorphologicalStudy fromRemotelySensed (RS)imagery
GIS Apps andMathematical
Models• Project Data (Completed, Current, Up-coming)• Haor and Wetlands• Coastal Embankments and Polders• Damage assessment due to flood and natural disaster• Identify the erosion prone areas and vulnerability mapping• Advise BWDB to undertake dredging and re-excavation
activities• Provide advice on preparation of Term of Reference (ToR)
for Consultancy Services• Receive and store GIS applications and Mathematical
Models and update according to BWDB needs• Disseminate through Web-GIS

Database &Inventory• Project Data (Completed, Current, Up-coming)• Haor and Wetlands• Coastal Embankments and Polders• GIS Database: PostgreSQL 13with PostGIS Extension Enterprise
Database• Data Center Database:Oracle 19c with Oracle Spatial• Data Specification:
ISO/TC 211 (Technical Committeeof Geographic Information/Geomatics) has standardized therules of Data ProductSpecifications (DPS) as ISO
19131, (finalized in 2007).
National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (NSDI) – SOB
prepared standards and guidelines.
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Disaster ImpactAssessment• Damage assessment due to flood and natural disaster• Flood event, June 2022: Sylhet Division

Disaster Impact
Assessment• Flood event, June 2022: Sylhet Division

Disaster Impact
Assessment• Damage assessment due to flood and natural disaster Damage assessment due to flood and natural disaster• Case study for post-flood damage of Cyclone Yaas on 26th May 2021

MorphologicalStudy from
Remotely Sensed(RS) imagery• Identify the erosion prone areas and vulnerability mapping• Advise BWDB to undertake dredging and re-excavation activities

MorphologicalStudy from
Remotely Sensed(RS) imagery• Identify the erosion prone areas and vulnerability mapping• Advise BWDB to undertake dredging and re-excavation activities

MorphologicalStudy from
Remotely Sensed(RS) imagery• Identify the erosion prone areas and vulnerability mapping• Advise BWDB to undertake dredging and re-excavation activities

MorphologicalStudy from
Remotely Sensed(RS) imagery• Identify the erosion prone areas and vulnerability mapping• Advise BWDB to undertake dredging and re-excavation activities

Quantification of Bank Line Shifting at Panguchi River

MorphologicalStudy from
Remotely Sensed(RS) imagery• Identify the erosion prone areas and vulnerability mapping• Advise BWDB to undertake dredging and re-excavation activities

CatchmentDelineation• Catchment Delineation from Digital Elevation Model (DEM)HydrologicalStudy• Rainfall Map

MappingService• Haor and Polder

GIS Apps andMathematical
Models• Receive and store GIS applications and Mathematical Models

GIS Apps andMathematical
Models• Receive and store GIS applications and Mathematical Models

GIS Apps andMathematical
Models• Disseminate online based output maps of mathematical models

GIS Apps andMathematical
ModelsVisit https://gis.bwdb.gov.bd/arcgis/home/
ArcGIS Enterprise Portalof Central GIS Directorate, BWDB

Disseminate through Web-GIS

Cyclone MOCHA in Bangladesh
Cyclone MOCHA in Bangladesh on 14 May, 2023, Processed by
MBRSC: DAN, Sentinel Asia

Cyclone MOCHA in Bangladesh
Cyclone MOCHA in Bangladesh on 14 May, 2023, Processed by
GIC, AIT, PDAN, Sentinel Asia

Visit https://gis.bwdb.gov.bd for more info

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