Tanguar Haor saved from plunder

One of the many beautiful spots in the Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj district, snapped on Sunday. PHOTO: STAR

The seen-month interim management period that began in November last year had expired on May 3 this year.

A Tk 25 lakh proposal sent to the MOEF by Sunamganj district administration for extension of the period also got approval, official sources said.

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Under the interim programme, the district administration in co-operation with local authorities is guarding the 3868-acre huge waterbody through deployment of joint forces comprising BDR, police and Ansars under supervision of magistrates.

"Big quantities of fries of indigenous fishes are now available in the haor", said Mahendra Nath Shaha of Jamalganj upazila, hailing the government decision.

"The interim management yielded big success. We are determined to keep it on until a comprehensive management strategy to save the nationally important waterbody is finalised by the government," Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner Jafar Siddique told The Daily Star.

"We have got all out support from all quarters", he added.

"Preparation of a strategic plan for sustainable management of the internationally known waterbody is underway and will be finalised within months", he said.

When contacted, ruling party Whip and minister-in-charge of Sunamganj district Fazlul Haque Aspia said, "We are getting tremendous results from the interim management programme".

"The government is sincere to keep it going. People irrespective of political opinions support implementation of the gigantic task", Aspia added.

Fishery officials said due to strict vigilance by law enforcers during the last 7 months, fries of different depleting species of indigenous fishes worth crores of taka have been saved in 46 beels in the Tanguar haor.

Fishes worth at least Tk five crore were plundered in five years prior to the programme, sources had said earlier.

The Tanguar haor was freed from encroachers in November last year following an order by the Prime Minister. The district administration took full control of the waterbody spread in Tahirpur and Jamalganj upazilas in Sunamganj district.

Law enforcers patrol the waterbody with speedboats and four temporary camps headed by magistrates have been set up. Use of current nets has been stopped and groups having political links driven out.

But, lawmaker from the constituency and Sunamganj district BNP secretary Nozir Hossain had been opposing the idea from the very beginning.

He told The Daily star last week that it is not possible to save the huge waterbody using police and BDR.

"From the very beginning of the interim management programme, I had been against it".

"So called environmentalists did not give correct advice. Tanguar should be brought under a long term and sustainable management plan", he added.

"Some people are misleading the policymakers", Nozir claimed while terming the interim management programme "costly and a whimsical decision".

The Tanguar haor is home to 60,000 birds of different species and 140 varieties of sweet water fishes.

It was declared an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) in 2000 and was taken up as a Ramsar Site. But implementation of the Ramsar Project remained uncertain due to indecision of policymakers and failure in selecting financial investors, leaving it for plunder by influential groups till it was put under the interim management programme, ordered by the MOEF following the Prime Minister's intervention.