The government inaugurated on Sunday the country's first hydraulic elevator dam to increase the use of surface water for irrigation. 

The hydraulic elevator dam has been built at Barumchara union of Anowara Upazila in Chattogram, under a project of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC).  

Agriculture Minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque inaugurated the dam through a virtual conference today held at the secretariat. 

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and Agri Secretary Md Nasiruzzaman, among others, were present in the programme. The dam has been constructed on a pilot basis under the BADC's rubber dam-building project. 

The agriculture minister said many such dams would be built across the country should this one shows expected performance. 

The dam has been built at a cost of Tk 210 million. 

It will help irrigate 3,000 hectares of lands by supplying reserve of surface water in six unions of Anowara Upazila. 

The area, which will be benefited by the dam, produces 13,500 tonnes of food crops annually worth Tk 243 million, said an agriculture ministry release.