Conduct Feasibility Studies on Halda River

Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University supported United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for developing a proposal to the Sustainable Water Fund of the Netherlands government that addresses the problems of the Halda River ecosystem and its sustainable management.

Originating from the Badnatali Hills range in Ramgarh Upazila in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Halda is one of the major tributaries of tidal river Karnaphuli which is well known as the country’s main spawning ground of major carps. Local people collect carp fish eggs from these places and hatch them to produce carp fries. Then the carp fries are supplied to different regions of the country for aquaculture (Department of Water Resources Engineering, 2016). Due to many manmade problems, this fish resource is degrading day by day. Conservation of Halda River is a national priority due to its unique ecological and commercial importance. In this context, to study and analysis the overall impacts and results, this project was subdivided into three parallel studies: (a) Environmental flow assessment, (b) Development of a public-private partnership model, (c) Benthic study to assess the status of ecology.

Client: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bangladesh

Project Duration: September 2017 – December 2017

Location: Chattogram, Bangladesh

Activities Performed under the Project:

• Field Visit through Halda River Basin
• Environmental Flow Assessment
• Hydrological and Hydrodynamic Modeling
• Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model
• Benthic Study