Preserving water bodies
WHILE addressing the inaugural function of the National Fisheries Week-2009, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the authorities concerned to ensure preservation of all types of water bodies to protect natural breeding places of fish and thereby help increase fish production. This is undoubtedly a timely directive that needs the fullest implementation.
The water bodies are also known as wetlands. According to information available from various studies, different types of inland water bodies in Bangladesh include
-Rivers: 7,497 sq km,
-Estuaries and mangrove swamps: 6,102 sq km,
-Beels and haors: 1,142 sq km,
-Inundable floodplains: 54, 866 sq km,
-Kaptai lake: 688 sq km,
-Ponds: 1, 469 sq km,
-Baors (oxbow lakes): 55 sq km, and
-Brackish-water farms: 1,080 sq km. The total area comes to 72,499 sq km, which is about 50% of the total land surface.
Water bodies have a wide range of ecological, socio-cultural, economic and commercial importance and value in Bangladesh. They are habitats for a large variety of flora and fauna of local, national and regional significance.
The water bodies are critically important for human settlements, biodiversity, fisheries, agricultural diversity, navigation and communication, and ecotourism.
Taking a cue from the prime minister's emphasis on the need for preserving the water bodies, it may be stated that from time immemorial fish and fisheries have played a very significant role in the nutrition, culture and economy of the country. The famous adage "mache-bhate Bangali" highlights the importance of fish in our lives.
According to the Bangladesh State of Environment Report 2001, about 80% of the daily animal protein intake in the diet of the people comes from fish. According to the just completed PRSP, the fisheries sub-sector contributes over 5% to GDP and export earnings and employs about 10% of the total labour force.
It is also equally true that inland open-water-capture fisheries have declined substantially and losses in output from this source have adversely affected the poor who used to earn a livelihood from subsistence fishing in the floodplains. This has happened due to filling up of floodplains for human settlements and development activities and use of pesticides in agricultural lands.
The situation has become acute in and around Dhaka. The campaign jointly launched by The Daily Star and Channel I shows how the rivers Buriganga, Sitalakhya, Turag and Balu, which serve as the lifeline of the city, have become victims of land-grabbers and polluters.
The floodplains and low lands in and around the city have been filled up or are in the process of being filled up. Many canals in the old part of Dhaka have completely disappeared. Even the lakes at Gulshan and Uttara have suffered drastically.
The absence of a tough and comprehensive law on the protection of water bodies has been primarily responsible for the failure to protect the water bodies from the land grabbers and polluters. The laws on water bodies -- The Bengal Canal Act 1864, The Bengal Irrigation Act 1876, East Bengal Embankment and Drainage Act 1952, Inland Water Transport Ordinance 1958, Ground Water Management Ordinance 1985, etc. -- are, as their titles indicate, sectoral in nature.
The latest Act -- The Playground, Open Spaces, Gardens, and Water Bodies Conservation Act 2000 -- suffers from loopholes and inadequacies regarding protection of water bodies. Section 1 of this Act suggests that it has application on the water bodies of the cities, divisional and district towns and municipalities. The water bodies in the rural areas are outside the jurisdiction of this Act.
The Act does not have any provision that prohibits construction of any kind of permanent or temporary structure within a determined distance of the water bodies. The Act also does not have any provision that provides that the water bodies that have been marked in survey records and exist in other approved government documents will be recovered if they have been encroached on.
Moreover, although the Act specifies the fine and imprisonment term for violation of any of its provisions, it does not direct the government to recover the original characteristics of the water bodies if someone fills them up.
It was learnt from newspaper reports that that the BNP-led alliance government initiated a move to enact a new law with strict provisions to protect water bodies and flood-flow zones across the country.
The media reports revealed that the committee tasked with the preparation of the draft law had prepared the draft, but it was not finally placed in the cabinet meeting. There were reports that a powerful lobby had been very active against the enactment of a tough and comprehensive law on the matter.
In view of what has been stated above, the need for enacting a tough and comprehensive law for preserving the different types of water bodies can hardly be over-emphasised. The earlier it is done, the better it will be for the country.
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