Bangladesh will loan $300 from World Bank

Bangladesh is a land of river. More than 230 small and big rivers are in Bangladesh. But most of rivers have been become shallow with silt. Now BIWTA want to overcome the problem by the help of World Bank. Sunil Kanti Bose, the chairman of BIWTA was talking at a seminar on the progress of Bangladesh's waterways.

Hindustan Times reported:

Officials said the World Bank had so far offered $51 million to develop the sector.
Water transport offers a cheap, efficient and environmentally friendly means of moving passengers and cargo.
Xian said: "It also has the potential to reach poor rural communities, giving them access to services and markets, thereby significantly helping efforts to reduce poverty."
"...despite its (water transport) poor reputation for accidents, statistically it is considerably safer than roads," the World Bank official said.
On waterways, 56 per cent of accidents are caused by overloading, a shipping document showed. Other causes include collision, human error and storms, the document added.
"There is a growing awareness that roads are not the only solution to Bangladesh's transportation needs and so the World Bank is delighted to support this important sector," Xian said.

As the transport by the waterway is cheaper than highways, so it will save the money of the businessmen.