Sr. Staff Reporter, Kishoreganj :
The adviser to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Farida Akhter said, ‘To ensure the free flow of water in Sylhet’s rivers and to protect the department from floods, several parts of the Itna-Mithamain-Ashtagram road (all weather road of Kishoreganj) may be demolished. For this, initiatives will be taken after an inter-ministerial decision.
She said this at a workshop in Sylhet on Saturday, organised by Department of Fisheries. The workshop titled ‘Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on Howre Fisheries Conservation’ was at a convention hall in Sylhet City. ATM Mustafa Kamal, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, presided over.
Adviser Farida Akhtar said, ‘Haor is being filled with impunity. In the name of modernity, unplanned dams and roads have been constructed in howar. Haor and fish resources have been damaged. As a result, the water flow has been disrupted.
Earlier in the workshop, the people concerned with the fishery resources coming from the seven Haor-dominated districts of the country highlighted various problems. Besides, they also mentioned various demands for protection of haor and fish resources.
A 29.73-kilometre road constructed for smooth communication in three haor upazilas of Kishoreganj has instead been causing havoc in the areas through untimely flooding and damaging paddy crops on thousands of hectares of land.
According to locals of Itna, Austagram and Mitamoin upazilas, the road constructed between 2015-20 at a cosr of tk.873.08 crore, has been impeding the flow of upstream water into the rivers through the haor.
