Country has lost 87 percent area of its wetlands in seven north-east districts in the last 32 years. The wetlands area of Sunamganj, Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Netrakona, Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria, the haor districts, shrank drastically between 1988 and 2020 due to negligence and lack of supervision, various constructions, occupation and pollution.
Country’s 373 haors had a total of 30,350 square kilometers of wetlands in 1988. But the seven north-east districts have now only 406 square kilometers wetlands, says a Buet study on Saturday.
All know the country’s wetlands like haors, baors, bills, jheels, lakes, depressed land and vast water bodies are very precious gifts of nature.
We hope the government will be
working to bring smile on the
faces of the haor people
Among them haor is the most prominent and resourceful wetland which occupies country’s north-east districts. But unplanned constructions, grabbing, adverse impact of climate change, change of river flow and siltation in haor area will deteriorate the overall situation in coming days. aoTherefore, haor people will face extreme flood risks if the situation is not improved immediately.
In recent years, we have witnessed the devastating flood destroyed the habitats, crops lands and poultry farms completely and washed away fish ponds.
The characteristics of all areas of the country are not identical so that it needs to be better known for any construction work or project adjacent to the haor areas.
The infrastructure growth and vanishing wetland are equally to blame for devastating floods. The wetlands were created naturally to contain water during the monsoon.
A comprehensive plan will have to be taken to protect the haors. Capital dredging of rivers coming from across the border to the north-east region is essential to ensure proper navigability to save the haor areas from inundation. Besides, the construction of sustainable submerged embankment is mandatory in this regard.
We are concerned over the flood in these seven districts and other haor areas due to onrush of waters from Indian hills. The haor people need a permanent solution in this regard.
We think the present government should do whatever is necessary to develop the haor regions and protect them from the destruction of the deluge. Besides, it must discuss with experts thoroughly before taking any project in the haor areas.
The contribution of haor people to the country’s agriculture sector is immense. We hope the government will be working to bring smile on the faces of the haor people.