Cherapunji (Meghalaya, India), the wettest land in the world is situated right above the haor land of Bangladesh. For thousands of years, water from Cherapunji and adjacent hilly areas has passed through the haor areas of Bangladesh. TheSurma and the Kushiara play a significant role with all other rivers of haor areas to flow the water to the Bay of Bengal. It’s the normal scenario of haor geography from the pre-historic age. But suddenly, the scenario has started to change in the last few decades. The haor people witnessed the dangerous flood of a memorable time. They also witnessed the longest absence of rain of a memorable time in 2023. This situation hints that something is significantly wrong there and we should seriously think about this problem.
`Haor’ plays an important role in our rice production. Research shows, 20% of the total rice production of Bangladesh comes from haor area. Not only that, haor is the largest source of single freshwater fish in Bangladesh. It is the largest hydrologic area of Bangladesh among 13 others. Tanguar Haor is the second Ramsar site in Bangladesh. It is not possible to describe all the importance of haor in one article, even not in one book also. The geographical existence of Bangladesh is interrelated with the ecology of haor areas.
In the last few decades, climatic change has occurred. We introduced a huge scale of development interventions in India and Bangladesh. And it seems that we didn’t think about the consequences of these interventions. In the upstream areas of Indian territory, roads are constructed in Meghalaya Hills, open mining has increased and social forestation projects have taken place in hilly areas. Underthe social forestation project, big trees in the hilly areas have been cut down and new seedlings have been planted. All of these development interventions have created a disastrous situation for us in Bangladesh. The environment has lost balance and the hill has failed to play its natural role of water retention like a sponge. So, the water gets down directly at a faster pace to downstream areas of Bangladesh. When it happens the water flows through the locality of the border areas of Netrakona and Sunamgonj in the blink of eye. Water gets down from the locality in one or two days, but the sands and pebble stones that come with the water stay in the farming land, river, canal, and people’s houses. You can’t imagine the situation, just think you are sleeping with your family in your bedroom. Suddenly you wake up with the sound of rain and realize that about one foot of water is on your floor. Your household assets are floating here and there, your domestic animals are roaring to save their lives. All these happen in just a few minutes of time. It’s a new normal situation for the border people of Bangladesh in Netrakona and Sunamgonj. With this, the major concern is, that this predicament situation is occurring frequently in every monsoon, in every year. For these flash floods farming lands are decreasing, and drinking water problems are increasing. Local people of this area are migrating to the towns from their locality.
In addition, Bangladesh has introduced some development interventions in haor areas, like the all-weather roads, and this infrastructure in the middle of the haor is obstructing the receding of waterwhich is also creating a water logging situation. Researchers held this reason responsible for the disastrous flood of 2022 in the Netrakona and Sylhet regions.
Challenges have come forward with new shapes. The unsolved problem of haor fishing system from the historical period of time has created a few interlinked problems with the rice cultivation system. The importance of the historical movement of the haor people called `Vasan Pani Andolon` is not understood by us. It has to be resolved according to the current situation. The powerful people of the society take lease of the haor water body from the government, either directly or indirectly. After getting the lease they occupy the whole water area and make chaos with the fishermen even with the farmers who are the owners of the underwater lands. Nowadays, they use some kinds of poison for fishing which kills all of the fishes including the mother fishes and the eggs of the fishes. This system is totally destroying the normal fish growth in the haor area. The lease takers usually restrict the water with a dam for their fishing. But this water is significantly needed to cultivate Boro rice. This process creates a contradictory situation between the lease taker and the common people of the haor.
Besides this, the depth of haor is decreasing for the hilly sands and pebble stones that come from the upstream areas. Our rivers are losing their navigability. Our fertile haor soil has lost its fertility due to the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, our water level is decreasing. Unplanned tourism in haor areas is gradually destroying the ecosystem. Many such problems are arising nowadays. Above all, corruption in haor development activities in one of the biggest reasons to destroy the system.
To face all these challenges, the `Haor Master Plan’ is in place with very few other policies from the government which are not adequate. More policies and strategies are required to face these new days challenges. Attention to the haor people is needed. The problem must be urgently rethought.
There is something in the haor ecology that has given birth to the great philosophers, poets, mystic musicians, and saints like Hason Raja, Radha Romon, Shah Abdul Karim, Shitalong Shah, Ukil Munshi, Rashid Uddin, and many unknown others besides the rice and fish. We must care about that. Initiatives should be taken to solve the problems which are creating obstacles in the haor areas to live a life of natural setting. So, attention from the politicians, policymakers, mass media, and all concerned is required to do something urgently to save the ecology and people of the haor areas.
Roni Khan
Youth Activist
E-mail:bsunetrakona@gmail.com
Cell: 01725 062750.
