Few can say for sure when hilsa was last sighted in the Padma near Rajshahi. As the mighty river largely silted up, with swathes of sandbars dotting the riverbed, the delicious silver fish had receded far down to the Mawa point in Munshiganj. Now, by a welcome reversal of fortunes, hilsa is back upstream.
Shoals of hilsa were being netted near Rajshahi's Charghat area. Some of them are reported to have swum up to bordering Chapainawabganj.
Return of hilsa this far upstream is no miracle or a freak of nature either. The main reason seems to be the full flooding of the north-western region during the just-past rains. The region had witnessed scanty rain and inadequate floods over the years. Many streams, rivers, rivulets and water bodies had been in death throes, groundwater table had subsided alarmingly and arsenic poisoning of subsoil water threatened public health. Desertification set in slow process.
In a sudden change of destiny, the curse of aridity was over with long-lasting rains this past monsoon. Frequent incessant downpour sent all sources of water into a spate. Ponds, streams, rivers burst their banks amid over-flooding. Floods washed away crops and fishes from innumerous ponds dug in recent times for pisciculture. People suffered woes.
It all, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise in the end. The aquifers down the ground are recharged, surface water bodies of all sorts are full to the brim and croplands are getting green again with the farming of new crops. "It's green all the way," says a traveller from Dhaka to Rajshahi in his firsthand account of a sort of 'green revolution' taking place in the region because of farmers' resilience and innovative ideas of farming.
Abdur Rahman, who does a job in Dhaka city, also runs his agricultural farms in his village in Durgapur of Rajshahi with his kin and hired farm-workers, appeared upbeat about a change of fortunes-from weal and woe to wellbeing. Like him, farmers and farm-owners started growing crops in fields and culturing fish in ponds and even ditches.
People are playing their part. The government has a role, too. And it is prime time the government played it. A recent disclosure by Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Sayedul Haque that Bangladesh has booked 4th position in the world in production of freshwater fishes comes as a fresh stimulus for a much greater attention to this sector. The minister also apprised the press that the annual output of freshwater fish had risen from around 27.01MT in 2008-9 to 35.48MT, worth some Tk 530 billion or 53,000 crore, in 2013-14.
This position in the global rating, however, comes from the utilisation of a fraction of the potential Bangladesh holds. Much of the newly-designated 'blue economy' in the Bay, following the establishment of Bangladesh's absolute ownership on its territorial waters by international arbitration, consists in the marine fisheries. Little has so far been discovered, developed and harnessed in this sector.                    Â
Again, look back to the freshwater front. There are numerous beels and canals in the country which are regulated with sluice-gates. All are suitable for seasonal open-water fish farming, until floodwater recedes to the extent where crop cultivation could resume. Many suggest there should be specific government programmes for aiding and involving people in massive short-course fish-farming festivals in those fertile sources.
A 'silver revolution' would you call it? Nothing is utopian nor is it a wishful thinking of any fecund mind. It must be pragmatic and practical. A useful prop to such proposition comes from the return of the national fish, hilsa, into its once-favourite sanctuary with the benediction of abundant monsoon rain.                                                                                        Â
But the deepwater fish, which lives and enjoys frolicking in the vast turbulent seawater in the Bay of Bengal, would naturally choose to pull back when floodwater recedes and the sunken sands surface to turn the vast expanse of the Padma waters into shallow, narrow streams once again. Now is the prime time the authorities acted to retain the finned immigrants.
What are the dos? Ban on fishing during spawning and aid to fishermen can play a small part. But what holds the key is to find a holistic remedy--that is, restoration of normal flow of the Padma. In the present perspective, the most pragmatic way is to go for capital dredging. That's of course a gigantic job. Bangladesh on its own can ill-afford to undertake it. The river is shared by India and there is no denying that its flow faces hindrance in the upper riparian country. So, they may be pursued for a joint re-excavation project.
Donor financing may be sought for such a work of high ecological importance in this age of growing environmental concerns.
In the latest development, India expressed interest in jointly building the much-talked-about Ganges barrage downstream the river, at Rajbari point. This barrage was planned long way back to offset the impact of the Farakka Barrage built over the Ganges (nomenclature change makes it Padma in Bangladesh part) on the Indian side.
This goodwill gesture could be extended further. To put the first thing first, the focus, for now, should be on protecting the sanctuary for the hilsa and other fishes. River dredging is an immediate need to retain the delicious fish in its natural habitat in the first place, before the dry season sets in. Restoring normal Ganges flow is also in the common interest of economy, waterway trade, people-to-people contact and climatic normalcy on both sides.
moslemuddin_ahmed@yahoo.com
When hilsa returns to its old habitat upstream Padma
Moslem Uddin Ahmed | Published: October 31, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
Catching hilsa
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