পানঠব্যবস্থাপনা সংগঠনের সুস্থতা নঠর্দেশক তথ্যচঠত্র

Blue Gold Program (BGP) is a collaboration program between the Government of the Netherlands and the Government of Bangladesh. The program is implemented by the Ministry of Water Resources, through Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) as the lead agency and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) since 2013.
The overall objective of BGP is “to reduce poverty for 150,000 households living in 160,000 ha area of selected coastal polders by creating a healthy living environment and a sustainable socio-economic development.” A total of 22 polders in the districts of Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali and Barguna were selected for BGP interventions.

With the aim of creating effective partners at local level to sustainably manage their water resources, two-tier water management organizations (WMOs) have been established by BGP - Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs). In total, 511 WMGs and 36 WMAs have been formed in 22 BGP polders. The WMOs have been registered by the Office of the Chief Water Management (OCWM) of Bangladesh Water Development Board.

As the WMOs are key players for water management in the polders, it is strongly felt that information on the status of WMOs should be available even beyond BGP. The data that would continue to be collected after project completion should help WMAs, the organizations responsible for water management of polder areas through management, operation and (minor) maintenance of infrastructures, in taking management decisions. It is intended that the data collection should be minimal but enough to signal the performance level of the WMA and its constituent WMGs.

It is on account of this that an App has been developed, which will be operated on the mobile phones of WMG and WMA representatives. The WMGs and WMAs will monitor their own progress and performance. They themselves will collect data about their activities, status and progress, and submit these data into a simple form for processing into a concise dashboard which will tell the WMAs at a glance what the health status of their organization, including their constituent WMGs, is.

The ability of farmers to manage water resources in a way that is beneficial for their agricultural crops, requires them to cooperate. Farmers in 22 polders in South-West Bangladesh have formed 511 Water Management Groups and 36 Water Management Associations to take the lead in water management affairs in their areas. These organisations have been registered by the Office of the Chief Water Management (OCWM) of Bangladesh Water Development Board and are well-known to their specific Union Parishads.

This mobile app enables the WMGs and WMAs to keep track of their organizational status and to compare their performance at a glance with that of their peers.