FlexMat a sustainable alternative to protecting riverbank from erosion

Speakers at an international conference have called for widespread use of FlexMat technology on riverbanks across the country to protect those from erosion.

They made the recommendations at the eleventh edition of International Perspective on Water Resources and the Environment (IPWE) conference on January 4.

FlexMat, a cluster of flexible blocks built with plastic and polymer, is used to protect the river bank from erosion and flood and this highly articulated technology can last nearly a century.

The Environmental & Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE-EWRI) in partnership with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology's Institute of Water and Flood Management (Buet-IWFM) jointly organised the four-day conference in a city hotel.

Max Group is the sponsor of the international event.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Tazul Islam, David Maclean, CEO, 7SEAS Group, Australia, Dr Satya Prasad Majumder, vice vhancellor of Buet, and Dr Md Abdul Matin, professor, Department of Water Resources Engineering, Buet, GM Alomgir, chairman of Max Group and director of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), were present at the event among others.