Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said on Wednesday that the government is working to develop for understandable early warning system to avoid loss of lives and livelihood of people in the natural calamities. She urged all stakeholders to actively contribute towards developing an effective hydrological status and outlook system. Speaking as the chief guest at a stakeholders’ consultation workshop titled "Early Warning for All through Hydrological Status and Outlook System" held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka, said a media release signed by Dipankar Bar, Public Relations Officer of the ministry.  The adviser stressed that early warnings are a vital part of building resilience. A robust hydrological system, she noted, would allow for better forecasting of potential disasters, enabling proactive measures to protect lives, property, and natural resources. She emphasized that the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable communities are at constant risk due to climate hazards, making it essential to have an efficient early warning system. Read: Proposals placed at PMO to face possible future natural calamities       Rizwana also said real-time information of upper riparian countries is highly required in this regard and highlighted the need for collaboration between government agencies, scientific communities, and local stakeholders to develop an inclusive system that serves all, particularly the most vulnerable. She called for a unified approach in implementing an early warning system that is both accessible and effective at local and national levels. Md Ashraf Uddin, Secretary, Ministry of Defence presided over the workshop. Kamrul Hasan, Secretary Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief; Md Nazmul Ahsan,  Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources and Dr Hwirin Kim, Head of Hydrology and water Resources Division, WMO also spoke as special guests. Senior officials from the Ministry, representatives from government agencies, NGOs, and international partners participated, discussing the challenges and opportunities of building a robust early warning mechanism for hydrological hazards. Read more: Bangladesh lauded for commitment, measures to fight climate change effects Earlier, the adviser inaugurated joining online the training on the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Policy on Programming and Operations held at Gazipur.

The government on Thursday unveiled a Tk 603,681 crore-national budget for 2021-22 fiscal to get the economy going in spite of the crippling Covid-19 pandemic with a strong focus on vaccinating the population and shoring up their jobs. A bold target has been set to achieve 7.2 per cent of GDP growth as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the budget proposals in Parliament, with deficit totalling Tk. 214,618 crore, which is 6.2 per cent of GDP. To meet the deficit, Tk 101,228 crore will come from external sources, while Tk 113,453 crore from domestic sources of which Tk 76,452 crore will come from the banking system and Tk 37,001 crore from savings certificates and other non-bank sources. Also read: New budget: Tracking prices going up and down  The size of the budget themed  "Bangladesh towards a resilient future protecting lives and livelihoods' is 17.5 percent of the GDP.  He said that the growth rate for 2021-2022 has been fixed at 7.2 percent remaining consistent with the government’s long-term plan and taking the post-Covid recovery situation into account. “It is expected that the inflation rate will be 5.3 per cent during the period.”  Total allocation for operating and other expenditures has been set at Tk 378,357 crore, while the allocation for the annual development program is Tk 225,324 crore.  “In the national budget, we usually formulate development plans in a coordinated manner by combining short, medium and long term action plans. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not have all kinds of data in front of us for this year,” he said.  He also mentioned that Bangladesh, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is moving ahead on the path of faster economic transition than other nations by overcoming the initial impact of COVID-19.  “But already a second wave and even a third wave have begun around the world, the impact of which is quite pronounced everywhere,” he said.