A hundred-year-old traditional ‘Palo Utsab’, a fishing festival was held in Baniachang upazila of Habiganj on Monday. The festival took place at ‘Boran Beel’ a waterbody located at Atkura area in the upazila. About 3 thousand people of all age gathered at the festival from different places of the district.
Locals said people arrived at the festival with ‘Palo’, a local fishing equipment, at the wee hours from different upazilas of Habiganj district. In addition, people from around 25 villages including Atkura, Subidpur and Karimnagar of Baniachang Upazila gathered in the morning. Everyone got down in the water shouting various slogans in the morning.
The three-hour long competition ended with a delightful mood. At noon, all the participants returned home with fish of different species including Shoal, Gajar, Boal, Chital, Koi and Katla. Local resident Ikhlas Mia, a participant of the Palo festival, said, "I came to Palo Baich and caught a lot of fish. People coming from different areas have enjoyed this fishing festival very much. As a local myself, I also felt delighted to see everyone participating happily.
Shariful Akhanji Shanto said he had caught the biggest fish of the festival last year. This time although he did not catch the biggest fish, he was happy to catch a lot of fish. He urged everyone to keep the festival going every year. Iqbal Ahmed, coordinator of Atkura Subidpur Education Welfare Association, said the festival has been going on for a hundred years. However, the extent of the festival have reduced than before.
He said, adding that the government is leasing almost all the ‘Beels’ in the area. In addition, grabbers have occupied many other waterbodies. Because of this, the fishing festival is not happening as grandly as before. He demanded proper actions for upholding the traditional ‘Palo festival’.
