AIT is proud to announce that Lecture No. 4 of its ongoing AIT Prominent Alumni Lecture Series, which is jointly organized by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the AIT Alumni Association (AITAA), will be held on Friday, 19 October 2007, at the Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium.
Our prominent alumnus for this auspicious event is Mr. Tauhidul Anwar Khan (WRE’80), Member (Hons.) of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, and Former Director General of the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), Bangladesh. Mr. Khan is also the recipient of the AIT Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award 2005 for the public sector.
AIT is honored to have Mr. Khan deliver a lecture on “Collaborative management of the waters of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers can change the fate of millions in South Asia”.
“Collaborative management of the waters of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers can change the fate of millions in South Asia”
Speaker: Mr. Tauhidul Anwar Khan (WRE’80)
Member (Hons.), Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, and Former Director General of the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), Bangladesh
Date: Friday, 19 October 2007, 10:00 a.m.
Location: Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium, Asian Institute of Technology
The lecture series is designed to provide recognition to AIT alumni who have distinguished themselves and their alma mater through lifetime achievement and professional accomplishments. It also serves as a platform through which the Institute can partner with the alumni in activities that would be of great interest and benefit to the members of the AIT community, particularly the student body. This initiative will provide the students excellent and inspiring role models to emulate in the future. The lecture series also serves as an opportune occasion to acknowledge and appreciate the continued contributions of the AIT alumni, which is an important and much respected part of the AIT family, for their role in upholding a strong, positive image of AIT in the region and beyond.
For more information, please contact the Alumni Relations Unit of the External Relations & Communications Office, e-mail to: [email protected] or telephone at Ext. 6316 / 5010.
Mr. Tauhidul Anwar Khan is a member of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission in the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Bangladesh, and is working in an advisory capacity.
The rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra and their tributaries and distributaries crisscross vast areas in the northeastern parts of South Asia, comprising parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The total basin area of these two international rivers amounts to about 1.7 million square kilometers, where more than 500 million people live. The area is richly endowed with natural resources and once flourished as a world center of civilization. The flows of these two rivers are highly seasonal and heavily influenced by the monsoon rainfall which contributes 80% of the total annual rainfall to the region. The area, therefore, faces two major hazards: floods during the monsoon; and scarcity of water during the dry season. These perennial problems of overabundance and scarcity of water frustrate the overall developmental efforts by the people.
Water is so essential to every aspect of life, from health to recreation, that efficient cooperative management and protection of water can enrich the lives of vast populations. Its scarcity, whether due to natural or man-made circumstances, can also be the source of regional tension and instability. As water is a cardinal resource for stability and prosperity, it should be used as a means for regional integration, not division.
