Fishing by poisoning river water!

This is destroying not only fishes but also other aquatic fauna of the river. Even ducks have died after eating poisonous fish of the Juri river, it is widely alleged.

Fish of Hakaluki haor where the Juri river falls, are found to be poisonous.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

People of some villages under Juri upazila of Moulvibazar district who live along to the Juri river alleged that a section of native fishermen with some fishermen from the neighboring state fish in this river by poisoning its water.

The small river, Juri, originated from the 'Jampai hill' of Indian State of Tripura. Entering Bangladesh it flows through Fultala, Sagarnal, Goalbari and West Juri and Jayfarnagar unions of Juri upazila.

Near Juri upazila headquarters, the river renamed as Kantinala and meets with the Hakaluki haor. The Hakaluki haor is one of the biggest in the country. There are a number of water bodies in the Hakaluki haor which produce a huge quantity of fishes every year.

The locals allege that the criminal fishermen extract juice from 'Bish Lata'---one kind of poisonous creeper and mix this juice with water of the Juri river. As a result fishes die and start floating up. After that the dishonest fishermen catch them with the help of fishing nets.

Besides aquatic fauna, ducks of the area also die eating these poisonous fishes. Zahir Uddin, Aleya Begum, Minara Begum and Delwar Hussain of the riverside villages of Juri upazila have lost huge number of ducks because of river poisoning.

People of the area lodged complaints with the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Juri and informed the matter to OC of Juri police station.

But fishing by poisoning Juri water still goes unabated. People of the area are now suffering from various diseases eating poisonous fishes.