<i>Niketan lake at Gulshan is a safe roost of cattle egret</i>
Photo: Writer
It's shocking news published in the Daily Star that a large number of migratory waterfowl are poisoned in Hakaluki Haor. The incidents of poisoning birds happened several times in the past in Hakaluki Haor. The Coastal and Wetlands Biodiversity Management Project (CWBMP), the multimillion dollar project of the Environment Department has spent huge amount of money for saving the wetlands biological diversity specially the migratory water birds. The project claimed to have developed a replicable model of community based wetlands management. They also claimed to have provided safe habitat for the birds. The NGOs were given a lucrative amount to organize and motivate the local community for protection of water birds. But bird hunting, trapping and poisoning is going on. Now it is the right time to form an independent committee under MoEF to assess the real condition. Besides, this image is taken from an urban polluted lake in Niketan, Dhaka, where the Cattle Egret were seen during Eid festivity. The colonies of nearly 500 cattle egrets were seen feeding and roosting in this lake despite the huge crowd and busy urban life. They feel secure and that's the reason they are roaming within Dhaka city. None has invested a single penny for this lake to save water birds. The UNDP and Global Environment Facility (GEF) had invested huge amount of money to secure the birdlife of Hakaluki Haor in the last few years. But the CWBMP have literally failed to provide them a safe habitat. How long will this non-productive investment continue in the name of CWBM?
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