DHAKA, Feb 15, 2024 (BSS) - Dissemination Workshop on “Determination of Standard High Water Level (SHWL), Standard Low Water Level (SLWL) and Re-Classification of Inland Waterways in Bangladesh” was held here today

Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) in association with Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) organized the workshop at Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB).

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury was present at the workshop as chief guest while Senior Secretary to the Shipping Ministry Md Mostafa Kamal as special guest.
BIWTA Chairman Commodore Arif Ahmed Mustafa chaired the workshop.

Mohammad Monowar Uz Zaman, Member, BIWTA; gave the welcome address while Rubayat Alam, Director, Coast, Port and Inland Water Ways Management Division (CPI), IWM; presented the keynote paper.

Farhana Akhter Kamal, Senior Specialist, Coast, Port and Inland Water Ways Management Division (CPI), IWM; presented the results of the study on the Determination of Standard High Water Level (SHWL), Standard Low Water Level (SLWL) and Re-Classification of Inland Waterways in Bangladesh.

Under the present study, last 25 years data of 442 water level stations from four different organisations are considered for the determination of Standard High-Water Level (SHWL) & Standard Low Water Level (SLWL). The datum of all water level stations is converted into a common reference level Mean Sea Level (MSL).

Inland waterways of Bangladesh have been reclassified into six classes considering the Least Available Depth (LAD), Importance of Waterway, IWT traffic intensity and Level of dependency on the waterway route. These six classes are Class-S (Specialized), Class-I, Class-II, Class-III, Class-IV and Class-V. Moreover, a Draft Rules has been formulated for controlling of the construction of installation in the inland waterways with a schedule of 16,155 kilometers waterway routes.