Biodiversity of Haor threatened by temporary beauty
photo: barta24.com
Alpana inaugurated this road with fanfare from administration, public representatives to Bangla New Year. But no one thought that this temporary beauty would become a threat to nature. After a few days, new water will come to Haor. And now there is a heated discussion about how much damage this color will cause.
On the occasion of Bangla New Year, a beautiful Alpana was painted over 14 km from Mithamoin Zero Point to Ashtagram Zero Point on Haor all-weather road recently. Environmentalists have expressed fear that if these colors of Alpana are washed by rain and mixed with the water of Haor, it will harm the reproduction of fish in Haor.
Environmental experts said that any color naturally contains various chemical components. The amount of paint used in the Alpana on Haor road will harm the aquatic plants, fish and other aquatic animals there due to the chemicals contained in it.
Digital service provider Banglalink Digital Communication, Asiatic Experiential Marketing Limited and Berger Paints have jointly implemented the world's longest Alpana painting on Haor's all-weather road. Asaduzzaman Noor, a cultural personality and Member of Parliament, officially inaugurated the work of drawing Alpana by scratching Rangtuli at Zero Point of Mithamoin on April 12. It is known that 16,000 liters of paint has been used on the 14 km road to paint this Alpana. And a large amount of turpentine is mixed with the paint. This turpentine is more dangerous than kerosene.
Since then, environmentalists started protesting on social media, claiming that this Alpana, painted with a mixture of paint and turpentine, will have an adverse effect on crops and fish. They said that Haor is a very safe place for fish. In the first rains of Baisakh, various native species of fish including Tangra, Batasi, Punti, Mala, Boal, Shoal, Gajar, Pabda, Gulsha, Kai, Shing, Magur usually lay their eggs. If it rains, the paint used here will wash off and get mixed with the water in the Haor. This color will dissolve in the water and kill the crops, aquatic animals including fish, grasses and insects. Soil and water will be polluted and the food chain of the ecosystem will collapse.
Saiful Islam Jewel, general secretary of Kishoreganj district branch of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), told the media, "We will dress up in Alpana colors on Baisakh, this is the traditional custom of Bengalis. But the authorities should have kept the environmental disaster in mind first. The worst thing is that the paint contains toxic chemicals. Biphenyl in particular contains endocrine disruptors, which in water will cause serious adverse reactions in fish. Whenever aquatic animals including fish are exposed to this high level of biphenyl, aquatic animals including fish will not lay eggs, they will not be able to fertilize the eggs.
About 14 percent of the country's fish demand is met from Haor. For this reason, Haor region of Kishoreganj is also called as one of the fisheries big source of Bangladesh.
According to the sources of District Fisheries Office, 28 thousand 21 tons of fish are produced from Haor in Kishoreganj in the fiscal year 2022-23. On the other hand, as the soil of Haor is very fertile, a lot of paddy is grown here. 25 percent of the country's rice demand is met from the Haor area. In the fiscal year 2022-23, 4 lakh 82 thousand 283 tons of Boro and Aman rice were produced.
Professor Ahmad Qamruzzaman Majumder, dean of the Faculty of Science of Stamford University and an environmental expert, said that the common elements that are in the color (such as benzene, diclovision, tetraclovision, toluene, cadmium, chromium); they contain many types of chemicals. The amount of paint used on the 14-km road in Haor will naturally affect the wetlands, aquatic plants, microscopic aquatic animals and even small fish.
Bangladesh Agricultural University Faculty of Fisheries Professor Dr. Haroon Or Rashid said, "Any type of chemical is a threat to aquatic life. Alpana has been painted over a large area; That must be somewhat harmful to fish and other animals. We have laws to protect the environment, like various mill factory effluents are harmful to rivers. And in that case the environmental law is also applied. Everyone needs to be more careful considering the environment before doing these things.
Environment Department Kishoreganj District Assistant Director Md. Abdullah Al Mateen told the media that the next steps will be taken by talking to the higher authorities.
