3 lakh fishers seek installment relief during fishing ban

A ban on all types of fishing in the 190-km area of ​​Meghna River and Tetulia River for two months has been declared a Hilsa sanctuary from midnight today on Saturday. The ban will be effective from March 1 to April 30 midnight.

During this period, fish harvesting, transportation, marketing and buying and selling will be completely closed.

About 3 lakh fishermen in seven upazilas of Bhola have become unemployed due to the ban. As their only source of livelihood has been cut off, they have demanded immediate distribution of rice and suspension of NGO loan installments for two months.

Fishermen from Ward No. 4 of Shibpur Union of Bhola Sadar Upazila Md. Akbar Majhi and Md. Mohiuddin Majhi said that they returned to the shore from the river with their trawler before the ban began. When the ban ends after two months, they will go fishing again. However, it will be difficult to run their families due to lack of income during this period.

Ruhul Amin Majhi, Shakil Majhi and Md. Monir Majhi from the same area said that the campaign is held every year at this time, but the NGO's installments are not stopped. Unable to handle the pressure of installments, many fishermen secretly go to the river to fish. They said that if the government wants to make the campaign 100% successful, it should stop collecting installments during the ban.

Fishermen from the Bhola canal area, Md. Zakir Hossain Majhi and Md. Noman Majhi said that although the government provides rice for the conservation of jatka, it is often distributed late. With Ramadan and Eid ahead, they demanded the distribution of daily necessities including rice in advance.

Bhola District Fisheries Officer Md. Iqbal Hossain said that registered fishermen are given 40 kg of rice every four months under the jatka conservation program. This year, about 90,000 fishermen out of 168,000 registered fishermen in Bhola will be given rice. Efforts are being made to distribute rice in the first week of March.

He further said that for the first time, under the 'Hilsa Resource Development and Management' project, flour, pulses, oil, potatoes, sugar and salt will be distributed among 13,600 fishermen in seven upazilas of Bhola. Along with this, necessary steps will be taken to stop the collection of loan installments of fishermen during the ban.