International Freshwater Dolphin Day was celebrated in Hathazari of Chattogram.
A discussion meeting was organized on this occasion at Bangabandhu Fisheries Heritage Halda Researchers Center premises adjacent to Ali Chowdhuryhat on Monday.
Hathajari Upazila Executive Officer Md Shahidul Alam presided over the discussion meeting organized by Forest Department and District Administration, Directorate of Forests, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
Chattogram Additional District Magistrate Sumani Akhter was the chief guest. In the speech of the chief guest, he said that Halda is the national wealth of the country. So the government has declared this river as Bangabandhu Fisheries Heritage. It is everyone's moral responsibility to protect the fish, biodiversity and dolphins of this river from polluting the river. For this, everyone has to come forward and work from their own position. And every researcher who researches Halda should come to one place to identify the problem of the river and find a way to solve it. If the researchers give different opinions then it will be difficult to save Halda.
Chairman of Department of Zoology, Chittagong University, Coordinator and Researcher of Halda Research Center Professor Dr. Manjurul Kibria read the keynote speech on the occasion. In his research, he argued for the removal of the Swiss Gate at the river link canal and the destroyed rubber dam at Bhujpur in the interest of protecting Halda River, biodiversity and freshwater dolphins.
He called this river as one of the wonderful rivers of the world. Regarding the removal of his Sluicegate and rubber dam, the two UP chairmen of Hathazari and Raojan upazila Sarwar Morshed Talukdar of Garduara and West Gujra UP chairman Lion Shahabuddin Arif said that if the Swissgate and rubber dam are removed, farming will be disrupted during the dry season.
During the monsoon season, the flood of the Halda river and tidal water will inundate the locality and the cropland cultivation will be damaged. So they emphasized on modernizing them for the sake of cultivation rather than removing them.
Instead of doing different studies on Halda, researchers who study Halda are suggested to come and do research at the same place. They commented that it will be easy to solve the problem of Halda river.
Raojan Upazila Executive Officer Abdus Samad Sikdar gave a welcome address on the occasion, special guests were Divisional Forest Officer, Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury, Naval Police Additional Superintendent of Police Khorshedul Alam, Hathajari Upazila Parishad Vice Chairman Nurul Alam Bashek. Hathajari Press Club president Keshav Kumar Barua gave a welcome address on the occasion.
Maulana Mohammad Mucha and Chotan Das read from the Holy Quran and Gita respectively at the beginning of the meeting held under the joint supervision of Raojan Upazila Project Implementation Officer Niaz Morshed and Forest Department Wildlife Management and Wildlife Conservation Officer Dipannita Bhattacharya.
IDF officer Mohammad Shah Alam and egg collector Kamal Uddin Saudagar spoke among others. Gumanmarddan, Nangalmora and Uttar Mardasha UP Chairman Mujibur Rahman, Harun-Ur-Rashid, Mohammad Shahedul Alam were present on the occasion.
Raojan's Binajuri and Gahira UP chairpersons Rabindra Lal Chowdhury and Nurul Abshar respectively along with egg collectors and chick producers UP members, political party leaders, teachers, education and various professions.
In the president's speech, Hathazari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Shahidul Alam said that everyone should work together to increase fish stock in Halda river, biodiversity, prevent dolphins and river pollution.
He appreciated the role of media workers and public representatives, IDF, Naval Police, Village Police and Ansar in protecting the Halda River and sought their cooperation in future.
