A Review and Analysis of Water Research, Development, and Management in Bangladesh

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The author/s improved the article and answer of all questions. however tiny comment below need to be considered please:

Figure . Word cloud in terms of keywords plus on Bangladesh water research related pub- 722 lications 

figure is without number ! Also what is the meaning of having such a figure?

Author Response

Thanks for noting this. We have added the figure number (Figure 4). This figure shows the most frequently used keywords on water research in Bangladesh as found in the relevant literature, e.g., “arsenic” has appeared as the 2^nd most frequently mentioned keywords in the water related literature relevant to Bangladesh. We believe this figure is essential for our manuscript.

Reviewer 2 Report

Thank you for the corrections made in the manuscript. The text is clearer in the corrected form. I can recommend the corrected text to the editors for publication.

Author Response

Thank you for the corrections made in the manuscript. The text is clearer in the corrected form. I can recommend the corrected text to the editors for publication.

Authors’ response: Thanks for your positive comment. It is highly appreciated.

Reviewer 3 Report

Manuscript number: Water_ 1745050

Type of manuscript: Article

Title: A Review and Analysis of Water Research, Development and Management in Bangladesh

Authors: Ataur Rahman, Sayka Jahan, Gokhan Yildirim, Md Abdul Alim, Mahmudul Haque, AHM Kausher

Submitted to section: Urban Water Management

Recommendation: Accept after minor revision

 

This paper presents a review of water research, development and management in Bangladesh. Given that the topic of this manuscript centers on the concepts of water resources protection and management, I believe that the subject matter is in line with the scope of Water journal. In my opinion, such research is not novelty and has little scientific interest in the international scale.

The paper is well-organized, containing all of the expected components. The applied methods generally were professional and effective in attaining the object of this work. I found a table and the figures utilized in your paper to be generally useful. Conclusions are supported by the results presented in this paper.

The text requires an editorial correction, for example:

Line 50, Line 56 – it should be km², not km2.

Line 121 – description of figure 1.

Line 190, 193, 212 and many lines - there should be no spaces before the dot symbol at the end of sentences.

 

Author Response

This paper presents a review of water research, development and management in Bangladesh. Given that the topic of this manuscript centers on the concepts of water resources protection and management, I believe that the subject matter is in line with the scope of Water journal. In my opinion, such research is not novelty and has little scientific interest in the international scale.

Authors’ response: We believe the manuscript has an international dimension e.g. it will encourage other researchers to carry out such research in similar countries, which will assist in water policy making in the respective countries.

The paper is well-organized, containing all of the expected components. The applied methods generally were professional and effective in attaining the object of this work. I found a table and the figures utilized in your paper to be generally useful. Conclusions are supported by the results presented in this paper.

Authors’ response: Thanks for your positive comment.

The text requires an editorial correction, for example:

Line 50, Line 56 – it should be km², not km2.

Authors’ response: Done.

Line 121 – description of figure 1.

Authors’ response: Thanks for this comment. We have added the the below sentences:

“Major water issues in Bangladesh are illustrated in Figure 1, which shows that Bangladesh water research and developments are dominated by floods, climate change, water contamination, water sharing, and transparency.”

Line 190, 193, 212 and many lines - there should be no spaces before the dot symbol at the end of sentences.

Authors’ response: Thanks for noting this formatting issue, we have rectified it.

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic is interesting and the author put a good efforts, however seems the structure need a significant changes beside some comments as below:

Introduction 

Lines: 36-40: “Water covers more than 70% of the earth’s surface and is the vital source of life [1]. 36 Water is a liquid substance that is the source of all the living forms on this planet. It is the 37 life giver substance, a universal solvent and cleaner, a disease carrier, and sometimes a 38 mighty killer. Lack of water or contaminated water can perish a civilisation. Humans have 39 a proud history of managing this precious resource; however, even in this age of the great- 40 est scientific achievements (in the known history of mankind), 

The content is including very basic information that not fits to be part from scientific article. I do recommend to remove this paragraph and starting from: over one billion 41 fellow human beings who do not have access to even ….etc.

Lines 59-61: “Why is water so important for Bangladesh? Because this land was formed by water which carried billions of tons of sediments from upper mountain ranges to form a fertile land in the mouth of the Bay of Bengal. 

Remove the question form, because water important not only for Bangladesh , I believe you can start providing the information :was formed by water which carried billions of tons of sediments …etc. please also need reference here.

The entire work should be restructuring, the author should showing the introduction including literature review (the top 10 updated research) , the objective and then the methodology (so far no methods have been mentioned to your article at least not being clear.

Reviewer 2 Report

This study attempted to review water-related research in Bangladesh. This is a poorly articulated manuscript, with a flawed methodology. Unfortunately, this article is not suitable for publication.

• The abstract should include the main research gaps/arguments and methodological approach followed in this study.
• The introduction section needs rewriting. It lacks focus. Many unnecessary statements are included here. For instance, the first and second paragraphs should be removed. I think readers of this article will know the necessities and composition of water.
• The research gaps are not apparent in this manuscript. The authors need to justify why this study is needed. They need to review relevant studies to highlight the major gaps in the existing literature.
• The rest of the article has been structured like a report. Section 2 is an accumulation of many data. But for an academic paper, each section must have an aim. The authors need to put more thought into writing a paper.
• This study does not have any methodology. A systematic review must have a search design. How were the articles selected? What were the inclusion and exclusion criteria? What timeframe was considered? What types of articles were considered? The following article is a very good example of how a review paper should be written.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935119306668

• Although the reference list includes a total of 134 documents, many recent studies are missing. This indicates that the search strategy is flawed. Examples of recent relevant studies include:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00846-9

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.12.005

https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR029621

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102152

https://doi.org/10.1142/S2382624X19500115

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.03.012

• The article is excessively long. I am amazed to see an article with 11 sections.

 

Reviewer 3 Report

The subject is interesting and very important. The goal of this research was an overview of water research and development in Bangladesh. This included covering scientific, engineering, environmental, health, economic, ecological, and social aspects.  Paper has an overview character and refers to many important materials and studies. It clearly presents the basic elements of water management in Bangladesh. My basic remarks to the paper:
• The article discusses various aspects of the research conducted so far in great detail. However, he is not trying to systematize what are the possible future scenarios?
• For example. With regard to climate change, however, I miss the aspect of the different scenarios of these changes. What variant is Bangladesh getting ready for?
• Unfortunately, the Conclusion lacks an attitude (maybe even critical) to the possibility and feasibility of implementing government comprehensive water policies.
The submitted paper made a good impression on me. Therefore, I have no strong remarks. The manuscript is well structured and deserves publication after some minor revisions.