Save the fish and aquatic animals

We are worried to learn from a news report published in this daily on September 18 that the Hakaluki haor in Moulvibazar has turned into a contaminated wetland with dead fish floating ashore. Reportedly, the deaths might have been caused by ammonia released from rotten weeds, which is replacing the oxygen dissolved in the water. This is affecting the livelihoods of local people, particularly the Boro farmers who incurred huge losses after this year's harvest. During this time of the year, their only source of income comes from fishing in the haor. Sadly, this is not the first time the fish and other aquatic animals in the haor have died from ammonia contamination. After the flash floods of 2017, there was a similar situation in the haor.

Hakaluki haor, which flows over 28,000-hectares of land in four upazilas of Moulvibazar and one upazila of Sylhet, has been declared an Environmentally Critical Area (ECA) under the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act in 1999. This haor needs to be protected at all costs since this is a sanctuary of various species of native fish and aquatic animals. According to the district fisheries department, it is home to 112 species of native fish. If the quality of its water cannot be improved immediately, we may soon witness an environmental disaster in the haor and its adjacent areas.  

Therefore, the authorities should investigate the matter and find out the real reasons of water contamination. If the contamination has really been done by ammonia, the pouring of zeolite and timsen into the water could help remove it and bring the temperature of water under control. It is good to know that the district's fisheries departmental has already taken some measures to improve the haor's water quality. But what we think is that they should have taken precautionary measures before the contamination took place, since this is not the first time such contamination happened there. Because of a lack of proper planning of the relevant government agencies in maintaining the environment of the haor, the livelihoods of local people are now at risk.