Policy needed to develop haor areas, seminar told

Government officials, public representatives, NGO executives and newsmen attended the seminar, held at the Deputy Commissioner's conference hall on Tuesday.

Additional Deputy Commi-ssioner Tapan Chandra Banik presided over the seminar, initiated by Deputy Commissioner C M Yusuf Hossain and organised by Oxfam and POPI, a local NGO.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The speaker said a distinctive feature in Netrakona haors is that most of the roads there go under water during monsoon. In dry season which lasts about seven months, people generally move on foot because there are few roads suitable for vehicles. Reaching one upazila to another needs a day-long walk.

There are some areas where law enforcers can hardly reach. So the main profession of people of those areas is thieving, which is mentioned against their names in the voter list, said Anisuzzaman, UNO of Kishoreganj Sadar who was there earlier.

District Primary Education Officer (DPEO) Sultan Miah said, there are many primary schools with only one teacher who teaches 250 to 300 students.

ADC (general) Tapan Chandra Banik said, if a government official is transferred to a haor area, he considers it a punishment.

The main cause behind this is that living cost in haor area is too high because all essentials except rice and fish have to be brought there from other areas.

The District Livestock Officer said Tk 300 to Tk 500 is needed to hire a boat to travel a small distance during wet season whereas a government employee gets only Tk 200 per month as travel allowance.

They said the haor areas should be declared 'special areas' like Chittagong hill districts.

Development of the areas will not be possible without adoption of a different policy after studying the areas, they said.

This does not mean the haor areas do not have scope for development. The areas are very resourceful with their fertile lands during winter and vast sheets of water in the wet season. A comprehensive plan can turn the whole area into a rice bowl in dry season and full of fishes in the wet season, they said.