Dublarchar fishers face scarcity and Sundarbans bandits

Bagerhat Correspondent :

The fishermen of Dublarchar fish-drying village are worried about the current shortage of fish in the Bay of Bengal and the attacks of bandits. The fish drying platform in Alorkol is now empty.

Md. Motasim Farazi, president of the Rampal Fishermen’s Association of Alorkol, Dublar, said on his mobile phone on Wednesday afternoon, that for the past few days, the fishermen have not been able to catch much fish in the sea and the fuel costs of the trawlers are not being met with the fish they do catch.

The fish drying platform in Alorkol is now empty due to the lack of fish. Apart from this, the violence of bandits has increased in the Sundarbans. Bandits often take fishermen hostage. The kidnapped fishermen have to pay a large ransom to the bandits for their (fishermen) release. For all these reasons, there is no smile on the faces of fishermen and moneylenders. All the fishermen are in debt.

Motasim Farazi said that the dry-fishermen are worried about how they will repay the loan. Speaking on the mobile phone from Dublarchar, Freedom fighter Md. Kamal Uddin Ahmed, President of Dubla Fishermen Group said that although this dry season started well, now the fishermen are suddenly facing losses as they are not getting enough fish in the sea. On the other hand, the forest pirates are recklessly attacking the fishermen and capturing them.

When the fishermen go to the sea and the canals of the Sundarbans with trawlers and boats, the pirates are chasing them. Kamal Uddin Ahmed demanded that the RAB and Coast Guard operations be intensified as before to suppress the pirates.