After the devastating floods of 1954 and 1955, theCrug Mission was formed in 1957 under United Nations (UN) to boost up food productivity by minimizing flood damage and water resources development & management in the region. As per mission’s recommendations, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) started its operation in 1959 as the water wing of the erstwhile ‘East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority’ in 1959. As the principal agency of the government for managing water resources of the country it was given the responsibility of accomplishing the tasks of executing flood control, drainage and irrigation projects to increase productivity in agriculture and fisheries. After the independence of Bangladesh, the authority was restructured in 1972 into two different organizations to deal with water and power separately. BWDB was created under the Bangladesh Water and Power Development Boards Order 1972 (P.O. No. 59 of 1972) as a fully autonomous organization. The reform program and structural adjustment process were undertaken by the GoB for transformation of BWDB is the enactment of the BWDB Act, 2000 that requires the BWDBs functions be guided by the National Water Policy (NWPo)-1999 and National water Management Plan (NWMP)-2004.Policy making and overseeing the overall management of BWDB is now vested on the Governing Council (GC) with thirteen Members headed by the Minister, Ministry of water Resources.

The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) is the lead agency for CDSP IV and is responsible for the coordination at project level among the implementing agencies. BWDB provided the Project Coordinating Director who chairs the Project Management Committee (PMC). In addition the BWDB is responsible for the construction of all water management related infrastructure, like embankments, sluices, drainage khals, and the periodic maintenance of most structures. Finally the BWDB is responsible for the formation, support and monitoring of the Water Management Organisations.

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Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is one of the largest public sector organizations in Bangladesh entrusted for planning and implementation of local level rural urban and small scale water resources infrastructure development programs. LGED works closely with the local stakeholders to ensure people’s participation and bottom–up planning in all stages of project implementation cycle. The broad objectives of LGED’s development activities are to improve the socio-economic condition of the country through supply of infrastructures at local level and capacity building of the stakeholders. LGED promotes labour-based technology to create employment opportunity at local level and uses local materials in construction and maintenance to optimize the project implementation cost with preserving the desired quality. LGED works in a wide range of diversified programs like construction of roads, bridges/ culverts and markets to social mobilization, empowerment and environmental protection. The organizational background of LGED can be traced back to early sixties when implementation of works program (WP) comprising Rural Works Program (RWP), Thana Irrigation program (TIP) and Thana Technical Development Committee (TTDC) was started. A ‘‘Cell’’ was established in the Local Government Division (LGD) under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative (MLGRD&C) in 1970s. To administer WP nationwide, the Works Program Wing (WPW) was created in 1982 under the Development Budget. It was reformed into the Local Government Engineering Bureau (LGEB) under Revenue Budget of the Government in October, 1984. LGEB was upgraded as the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in August, 1992.

The construction of all the internal infrastructure that is not primarily related to water management, such as rural roads, culverts, bridges, cyclone shelters, cluster villages, Union Parishad Complexes, rural markets and other structures are the responsibility of LGED. Additionally LGED is charged with the periodic maintenance of the roads and many of the previously named structures, including those built under earlier phases of CDSP.

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The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) is the national lead agency for provision of drinking water supply and waste management in the country excepting Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chittagong cities where WASAs operate. With the challenges generated by the discovery of arsenic in incremental areas since its first detection in 1993, DPHE with its development partners is trying to ameliorate the sufferings caused by the lack of safe water. Alternative options for safe water supply are being catered in the worst affected areas. Similarly for excreta and other waste management, DPHE is implementing projects to achieve an improvement environment. DPHE was established in 1936, and holds the following mandates: DPHE is responsible exclusively for water supply and sanitation facilities throughout the country excluding Dhaka & Chittagong cities and Narayanganj and KadamrasulPourashavas where WASAs operate. DPHE provides advisory service to GoB in framing policy and action plans for WSS. DPHE provide support to the local government institutions (LGIs) in the development and O&M of the water & sanitation facilities.

The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE)is responsible for public water supply and sanitation, mainly through the instalment of deep tube wells, rainwater collection ponds with sand filters, and production of rings and slabs for individual household latrines. DPHE works closely with the projectsPNGOs. In addition, rather than having contractors supply and install latrines for individual households, DPHE uses LCS to manufacture rings and slabs, and then the PNGOs organise households to collect and install their own latrines.

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After the independence of Bangladesh, the government took initiatives to strengthen agriculture extension programs, and established the cotton development board, tobacco development board, and horticulture board. In 1975 the agriculture directorate (Extension and Management) and Jute directorate were established. In 1982 Six agencies responsible for technology transfer DAE (E and M), DA( jp), plant protection directorate, horticulture board, tobacco development board and central extension resource and development institute (CERDI) were merged to form the present Agriculture Extension Department (DAE). From 1977 to 1990 the DAE conducted the agriculture extension activities under the concept of Training & Visit (T&V) approach. But since 1990 the agriculture extension programs have been going on successfully under the concept of group approach. In 1996 government adopted the New Agriculture Extension Policy (NAEP) to conduct a well-planned Agriculture Extension Service in Bangladesh. The Department of Agricultural Extension’s mission is to provide efficient and effective needs based extension services to all categories of farmer, to enable them to optimize their use of resources, in order to promote sustainable agricultural and socio-economic development.

As in earlier phases of CDSP the Deputy Director (DD), Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) for Noakhali district leads the DAE activities as Project Director (PD). The DAE PD hired directly, on a contract basis, a Project Agriculturalist (PA – equivalent to a Subject Matter Specialist of DAE), two Project Technical Officers (PTO – equivalent to DAE Agricultural Extension Officers) and 6 Field Officers (FO – equivalent to DAE SAAOs). The PA is deputised for the DAE PD in management of the project, while the two PTO’s supervise field activities (the project area is split in two parts with one PTO taking charge of each part). Nangulia and Noler chars each have two FOs, with one FO being stationed in each of Caring, Urir and Ziar chars. One PTO is placed in a CDSP field office at Janata Bazaar in char Nangulia, where he has access to Nangulia, Noler and Caring Chars. The other PTO is stationed in Char Mujid, and covers the northern part of Nangulia, Urir char and Ziar char.
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Since the 1950’s the Ministry of Land (differently named under previous regimes) is entrusted with the land management of Bangladesh. The aim of the ministry is to efficiently administer the affairs of the people of the land to provide all the services and the use of land throughsarabottama economic development and poverty alleviation. Objectives are the management and settlement of the Government owned lands (khas lands), sairatmahals (jalmahal, shirmpmahal etc.), vested properties and abandoned properties. The ministry is charged with the collection of land development tax, land surveying and record keeping/updating. Additionally the acquisition and requisition of land are also important responsibilities of this ministry.

This Ministry of Land (MoL) is responsible for all activities related to the process of land settlement of the population in the project areas and for the strengthening of the land settlement bureaucracy, including the computerisation of land management systems.

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The Forest Department is over a century old government organization that started functioning in 1862 with three initial services: The Imperial Forest Service, the Provincial Forest Service and the Sub-ordinate Forest Service. Before partition under British India in 1947, the forests of Bangladesh were under the control of the Bengal Forest Department and the Assam Forest Department. After partition of British India, East Pakistan Forest Services were created comprising: East Pakistan Senior Forest Service, and East Pakistan Sub-ordinate Forest Service. Responsibility for forestry was passed to the Bangladesh Forest Department after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. Bangladesh Senior Forest Service were renamed as Bangladesh Civil Service (Forest) Cadre under Bangladesh Civil Service Cadre Rules, 1980.

The Forest Department (FD) is responsible for the formation of Social Forestry Groups (SFG), roadside and embankment plantations, foreshore afforestation, killa and institutional plantations, and block and mangrove plantations. Capacity building of its staff and of the SFGs is an additional task of this Department.

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