& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Tanguar Haor to be opened for plunder again?

One group backed by a minister wants its immediate lease, the other for permanent steps to protect it

IQBAL SIDDIQUEE, Sylhet.
The fate of Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj, a Ramsher site and the country's second biggest waterbody with a rich bio-diversity, has become uncertain again because of a tug of war between two influential groups.
One group backed by a minister wants the haor to be leased to an investor within a "short time", which, sources claim, will give the scope for its plunder again.
The others, backed by a state minister, the minister in charge of Sunamganj district and the district administration says it is not possible to lease it within a short time because this will be arbitrary and open the door for plunder. They claim that the group which suggests its lease in a "short time" wants that to allow a local ruling party lawmaker to take the chance and lease it.
They said the suggestion to lease it in a short time has created a commotion among people around the haor and district officials, who stopped the plunder for the last few months by deploying BDR, police and Ansar under supervision of magistrates.
"It is not possible to do the job (leasing) within a short time because fresh tender has to be floated for selecting investor", an
official said.
"The other option is to select some one without any bidding, which will open it up again for plunder ".
Besides, handover of the huge waterbody to a private investor is "contradictory to the spirit of preserving its bio-diversity", he added.
The official said the district administration has stopped indiscriminate plunder of fish and others resources by deploying law enforces with approval from the ministry.
Sources said the administration's steps has been highly appreciated by all quarters in the district as well by high-ups in the government, who want continuation of the vigilance till the end of current dry season and a permanent arrangement is made for preservation and development of the waterbody as a Ramser site.
The district administration's step has stopped four years of plunder.
The people want that the authorities take strict measures to protect the over 3868-acre haor, a sanctuary for 60,000 birds of different species and 140 varieties of sweetwater fish. Besides, over one lakh guest birds flock there during the winter.
A three-member parliamentary sub-committee on the Ministry of
Forests and Environment, after visiting the haor last month, had suggested handover of the waterbody to an investor before end of the three-year period for which it was placed under the disposal of the environment ministry by the land ministry. The period ended on February 10.
The committee also put forward a 7-point suggestion to protect its resources.
Led by Nazimuddin Alam its other members were Hafij Uddin Ahmed and Kolimuddin Ahmed Milon.
After its visit to the haor the subcommittee sat at a meeting with Sunamganj district administration officials and professionals' groups at Sunamganj Circuit House.
Speakers in the meeting opined for formation of a special force comprising BDR, police and Ansar to ensure proper supervision of the haor.
The committee's suggestions include selection of the highest bidder as the investor and inclusion of two representatives from the ministry in the proposed haor maintenance body, raising the investor's contribution from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent to the haor development fund, planting of one lakh saplings by the investor instead of 25,000
planned earlier.
The committee also resented that an investor could not be selected even after floating of tenders three times earlier, making its fate uncertain during the last few years.
When contacted, the local ruling party MP, Nozir Hossain, who owns a fishery project, said the earlier decision of the Environment Ministry to select an investor is right because this is within the provisions of the Ramsar programme.
Tender was floated a year ago but the process was suspended as only three bids were submitted, reportedly by Nozir Hossain's men.
Talking to this correspondent over phone, Nozir Hossain said the haor was plundered in the last five years and demanded punishment of the plunderers.
Taguar Haor was declared an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) in 2000 and was taken up as a Ramsar site.
But, implementation of the Ramsar project remained uncertain due to indecision of policymakers and failure in selecting financial investors.