Sundarbans fishermen remain neglected for years

KHULNA, Nov 09 (UNB): The fishermen in the Sundarbans have remained neglected for years despite the higher socio-economic progress of the country as a whole.

The fishing villages in and around the Sundarbans mangrove forests are characterised by poverty and deprivation, and lack of access to basic amenities such as drinking water, sanitation and health facilities, alldue to the apathy of the authorities.

Those who are involved in dry fish processing have not been able to turn the wheel of their fortune due to various adversities, including the problem of pirates, harassment by forest guards and fear of attacks by tigers or crocodiles.

In DublarChar, for instance, which is known as the 'shutki palli', the fishermen are struggling to earn two quare meals a day as their livelihoods have been hit hard by theCovid-19 pandemic.

While many fishermen have already switched professionsafter losing cash, nets and boats, others are struggling to repay loans taken from private money lenders at a high rate of interest.

Inthe dry season, fishermen Mokhles and Kawsar said, many people from Sandwip and coastal areas of Chattogram come to Dublar Char to catch fish. But many of them have now stopped coming.

According to the Sundarbans Forest Department office, Tk 24.6 million was collected from 7,325 fishermen as revenue in the 2018-2019 fiscal.In the last financial year, the revenue shotup to Tk 27.3 million from 7,787 fishermen.

The authorities claimed that the government's initiative to free the Sundarbans from pirates by strengthening monitoring systems "is the main reason behind the increasing revenue from the region".