Green activists have urged the government to declare Halda, one of the world’s major natural sweet water fish breeding spots, as the national river of Bangladesh.
At a discussion on Chittagong on Friday, the members of a civic focum demanded to stop any construction that hinders flow of the river water and find out alternative source for irrigation in order to check pollution of the river.
Halda is now in a very bad state due to industrial pollution, construction of rubber dams and sluice gates, straightening of its bends, destruction of mother fishes and sand lifting, they observed at the discussion titled “Present condition of Halda River and our duties”, held at Chittagong Press Club (CPC) auditorium on Friday.
The group called “Halda River Protection Committee” organised the discussion with East Delta University vice chancellor (VC) Mohammad Sekandar Khan in the chair.
The committee also accorded reception to deputy commissioner, Chittagong, Mejbah Uddin and general secretary of the Chittagong Union of Journalists (CUJ) Mohammad Ali for their roles in protecting the endangered river.
Committee president Manzoorul Kibria, also a teacher of Chittagong University Zoology department, who has carried out research on the Halda fish spawning centre for over a decade, presented the keynote at the meeting.
The discussants said the river is now in a bad shape with many government and non-government organisations including tanneries and power plants polluting its water.
Terming the river as the lifeline of Chittagong, they said it is urgent to make specific recommendations after determining what to do to save the river.
They called for raising awareness among the people of stopping pollution of Halda.
Chittagong University VC Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury addressed the discussion as the chief guest while former CPC president Abu Sufian, president of Chittagong Television Journalist Association Shamsul Hoque Haidary and CPC joint secretary Chowdhury Farid, among others, spoke.
Prothom-alo
