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National Water Resources Council

parliamentary_committee · partial (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Tarique Rahman
Role
Chairperson
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
1983
Legal basis
Bangladesh Water Act, 2013 (Act No. 14 of 2013), Section 4 (constitution of the Council) and Section 5 (functions); National Water Policy, 1999 (designated WARPO as secretariat to the NWRC and mandated preparation of the National Water Management Plan); NWRC first constituted by gazette notification in 1983 under the Master Plan Organisation era; all pre-2013 notifications repealed and earlier councils dissolved upon constitution of the body under the 2013 Act (Water Act 2013, transitional provisions)

NWRC apex function active under PM Tarique Rahman as constitutional chairperson since 17 February 2026; no public record of a formal NWRC plenary convening under the BNP-Tarique government has been found as of 17 May 2026. The most recent documented NWRC meeting is the 18th meeting (held under the interim Yunus government, approximately August 2025), which resolved to declare 4,911 villages in 25 upazilas of Rajshahi, Naogaon, and Chapainawabganj as water-stressed for 10 years under the Water Act 2013 (gazette issued December 2025). Active policy agenda includes: Teesta Master Plan (feasibility study complete, PDPP in preparation, BNP manifesto commitment), Ganges Water Sharing Treaty renewal (expires December 2026, JRC technical committee meetings ongoing with India), Padma Barrage Phase 1 (ECNEC-approved May 2026, Tk 344.97 bn), and Barind groundwater crisis management.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

Verification status is 'partial': the NWRC's legal basis, composition, and PM-chairperson role are verified from 2+ primary sources (Water Act 2013 text, InforMEA, WARPO records, National Water Policy 1999). However, no formal NWRC plenary meeting under the BNP-Tarique government (post-17 February 2026) has been publicly documented as of 17 May 2026; the current_head assignment to PM Tarique Rahman follows from Water Act 2013 Section 4 which makes the Prime Minister the statutory Chairperson, not from a confirmed attendance record. The established_year of 1983 reflects the original NWRC creation (confirmed: ResearchGate and JICA sources cite 1983 MPO-era formation); the 2013 Water Act reconstituted the body on a statutory footing. NWRC is distinct from (1) its Executive Committee (chaired by the Water Resources Minister, WARPO DG as Member-Secretary -- see slug 'water-resources-planning-organisation') and (2) the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC, bilateral technical body with India on shared rivers). The 18th NWRC meeting (August 2025, interim govt) is the last confirmed plenary; this record will need updating when the 19th meeting is convened under PM Tarique Rahman. entity_type is set to 'parliamentary_committee' per schema constraint; the NWRC is constitutionally an inter-ministerial apex council, not a parliamentary standing committee, but the schema has no 'council' type. The MoWR website (mowr.gov.bd) is listed as the official contact point; WARPO (warpo.gov.bd) serves as NWRC secretariat. name_bn 'জাতীয় পানি সম্পদ কাউন্সিল' is the standard Bangla rendering used in government communications; verify against official gazette if precise Bangla name is required.

Sources