Native fish have been killed by poison in the Dhalai River, which runs along the border in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar. From Tuesday afternoon dead fish surfaced along several stretches, and residents waded in with mosquito nets and fishing nets to gather them.
Residents allege that an unscrupulous gang poured poison into the river at night. Baghair, mrigel, prawns, eels, gulsha, mola-dhela, puti and other native species have died. Joynal Mia, who came to collect fish, said poison is used like this in the river every year and people take the dead fish home to cook, though they too want those responsible punished.
Dr Mohammad Sakur Ahmed, Kamalganj upazila health and family planning officer, warned that cooking does not fully remove the poison from fish killed this way, and that eating them can seriously damage the kidneys and nervous system.
Environmentalists and residents fear such indiscriminate killing will destroy the river's biodiversity. When fish die before spawning or as fry, the next season's stock of native fish shrinks, a direct loss to local fishers.
Kamalganj upazila fisheries officer Joy Banik called poisoning the river a deplorable crime. Upazila nirbahi officer Sandwip Talukder said he had heard of the incident and swift legal action would be taken against those involved.
The report is by Desh Rupantor's Kamalganj (Moulvibazar) correspondent.
Photo: the Dhalai River upstream near Kamalpur, Tripura (file), Ashish itct / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Desh Rupantor
Comments
(0)