Fisheries and livestock adviser Farida Akhter on Tuesday said that the government would revise the gazette that declared the Halda River a fisheries heritage site to stop tobacco cultivation and pollution of the river.
She made the remarks while addressing the 15th meeting of the 鈥楬alda River fishery heritage implementation monitoring committee鈥� held at the conference hall of Chattogram Circuit House.
The adviser said, 鈥楽everal development activities concerning the Halda River have faced obstacles due to the existing heritage-related gazette. We need to amend it.鈥�
Policy-level barriers will be identified and reviewed in detail, she said, 鈥榯he government will complete all necessary work to protect and develop the Halda River within its tenure.鈥�
At the meeting, Halda River Research Laboratory at Chittagong University coordinator Professor Dr Md Manzoorul Kibria presented detailed data on the river鈥檚 challenges, prospects and possible solutions.
Mentioning that the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock declared the Halda River a heritage site through a gazette on December 21, 2020, the professor said that the gazette was later found to have several flaws.
鈥楩or example, our recommendation to ban tobacco farming within the river basin was not included, while there are several other issues that need correction,鈥� he said.
Farida Akhter said that tobacco cultivation and industrial pollution would be stopped through the amendment of the gazette.
鈥楾obacco farming has been damaging the land fertility along the riverbanks, posing a threat to the river鈥檚 ecology and biodiversity. But to end tobacco farming, we must ensure alternative livelihoods for farmers,鈥� she stated.
The agriculture ministry would take necessary measures, she also said, vowing 鈥榓t any cost, the Halda River must be freed from tobacco cultivation鈥�.
The meeting was chaired by Chattogram divisional commissioner Dr Md Ziauddin and attended, among others, by Chattogram city mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain, Chattogram Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman, additional divisional commissioner Nusrat Sultana, Chattogram deputy commissioner Saiful Islam, Khagrachhari deputy commissioner ABM Iftekharul Islam, and district fisheries officer Salma Begum.