Bangladesh Water Development Board
Profile
- Head
- Md. Enayet Ullah
- Role
- Director General
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1972
- Legal basis
- Bangladesh Water and Power Development Boards Order, 1972 (President's Order No. 59 of 1972), which abolished the East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (EPWAPDA) and created BWDB as a statutory autonomous body effective 11 February 1972; subsequently governed by the Bangladesh Water Development Board Act, 2000
BWDB is the implementing agency for three concurrent flagship water sector commitments: (1) Padma Barrage Phase 1 (Tk 34,497.25 crore, ECNEC-approved 13 May 2026, implementation July 2026 to June 2033); (2) 20,000 km nationwide canal re-excavation over five years, with over 1,200 km reported complete in the first 180-day milestone and a Tk 31.57 crore GIS database project running through June 2029; (3) Teesta Master Plan with BWDB feasibility study recommending 110 km of dredging, PDPP under technical review pending formal DPP approval. FFWC actively managed haor flash flood response (April-May 2026).
Recent activity
- 2026-02-26 reform MoWR directed all relevant ministries to submit action plans for BWDB-led nationwide canal re-excavation programme targeting 20,000 km over five years; government reported over 1,200 km completed within the first 180-day milestone of the BNP government. ↗↗
- 2026-03-01 procurement BWDB launched the Tk 31.57 crore 'Identification, Classification and Development of a Geo-Informatics Database of Canals in Bangladesh' project (January 2026 to June 2029) to build an integrated GIS-based database of the country's estimated 30,000+ canals, covering source, outfall, flow path, basin and sub-basin data to underpin the 20,000 km excavation programme. ↗↗
- 2026-04-14 statement PM Tarique Rahman confirmed to parliament that the BWDB feasibility study for the Teesta Master Plan is complete; the study recommends dredging 110 km of the Teesta River; a preliminary development project proposal (PDPP) has been prepared and is under technical and financial review before formal DPP approval and implementation. ↗↗↗
- 2026-04-23 other BWDB Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) issued flash flood warnings for the northeastern haor basin (Surma, Kushiyara, Dhanu, Baulai, Bhugai-Kangs rivers) ahead of heavy rainfall; BWDB urged haor farmers in Sunamganj and surrounding districts to harvest boro paddy early where at least 80% of the crop had matured, to pre-empt crop losses. ↗↗↗
- 2026-04-30 other Northeastern haor flash flood (April 2026): FFWC recorded 1 river station under severe flood, 4 under flood, 4 under warning; affected districts included Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj, Netrokona, Sunamganj, and Kishoreganj; approximately 16,000 hectares of boro paddy inundated in Sunamganj and 9,049 hectares in Kishoreganj; BWDB flood response coordinated with BDRCS anticipatory action framework (23 April to 5 May 2026). ↗↗↗
- 2026-05-13 procurement ECNEC chaired by PM Tarique Rahman approved the 'Padma Barrage (1st Phase)' mega-project at Tk 34,497.25 crore (fully GoB-financed), to be implemented by BWDB from July 2026 to June 2033; the 2.1 km barrage will include 78 spillways, 18 undersluices, 2 fish passes, navigation locks, 135.60 km of Gorai-Madhumati dredging, 246.46 km of Hisna drainage channel re-excavation, 180 km of afflux embankments, and two hydropower plants (combined 113 MW); projected to irrigate 28.80 lakh hectares, retain 2,900 million cubic metres of Padma water, benefit 70 million people, and generate Tk 8,000 crore annual return contributing 0.45% to GDP. ↗↗↗↗
Provenance & notes
BWDB was established effective 11 February 1972 by President's Order No. 59 of 1972, which split the East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (EPWAPDA) into BWDB (water) and BPDB (power). Governed by the Bangladesh Water Development Board Act, 2000. Director General Md. Enayet Ullah assumed office 14 July 2025, having previously served as Additional DG (East). staff_count is null: BWDB's total sanctioned post count is not publicly reported in a primary source retrievable at this date; job circulars reference batch vacancies (277-284 posts) but do not represent the full workforce. annual_budget_bdt is null: BWDB's standalone institutional allocation is not separately published from the parent MoWR allocation (Tk 12,869 crore FY2025-26); BWDB receives the dominant share of MoWR's Tk 12,155 crore development allocation as the primary implementing agency. Padma Barrage figure of Tk 34,497.25 crore is the project cost, not an annual allocation; cross-verified across Daily Star, BSS, Dhaka Tribune, Prothom Alo (English). Teesta Master Plan: BWDB feasibility complete, 110 km dredging recommended; PDPP under review; no DPP or funding closure as of 17 May 2026. Canal programme: 20,000 km national target over 5 years; >1,200 km completed within first 180-day government milestone per BSS; GIS database project (Tk 31.57 crore) runs January 2026 to June 2029. Haor flood: FFWC (BWDB division) issued warnings April 23, 2026; BDRCS situation report 1 (30 April 2026) and anticipatory action overview (23 April to 5 May 2026) used as primary humanitarian sources. All material facts cross-verified against 2+ independent primary sources.
Sources
- https://en.bwdb.gov.bd/
- https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Bangladesh_Water_Development_Board
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Water_Development_Board
- https://en.bwdb.gov.bd/office-head
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/corporates/md-enayet-ullah-appointed-director-general-bwdb-1188041
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/364257
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/385539
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/infrastructure/tk31cr-project-map-30000-canals-across-country-1374671
- https://www.jagonews24.com/en/national/news/90553
- https://www.bssnews.net/js-session/382552
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/parliament/408940/teesta-master-plan-feasibility-study-completed-pm
- https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/parliament/hyuy37i7nq
- https://unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/bwdb-asks-farmers-in-sunamganj-to-harvest-paddy-early-amid-flood-fears/184245
- https://en.bd-pratidin.com/city/2026/04/25/61396
- https://www.ffwc.gov.bd/
- https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/bangladesh-red-crescent-society-situation-report-1-northeastern-haor-region-flash-flood-30-april-2026
- https://bdrcs.org/situation-report-1-northeastern-haor-flood-april-2026/
- https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/bangladesh-red-crescent-society-northeastern-flashflood-anticipatory-action-activation-overview-23-april-05-may-2026
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/ecnec-approves-tk-34497cr-padma-barrage-project-4174951
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/386672
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/development/410123/govt-undertakes-tk-34-497.25cr-padma-barrage
- https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/government/opefgetyjd
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/ecnec-okays-padma-barrage-mega-project-4175341