Environmental pollution is adversely affecting the biodiversity of the Sundarbans



Pinky Akter
Environmental pollution is adversely affecting the biodiversity of the Sundarbans

Environmental pollution is adversely affecting the biodiversity of the Sundarbans

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The Sundarbans, a sanctuary for animals, is more affected by climate change than by human pollution. As the altitude is lower than the sea level, whenever the sea level rises, it directly affects the Sundarbans. The flow of fresh water in the forest is decreasing. Excess of silt and salt water in rivers is increasing. As a result biodiversity is facing severe loss. due to severe floods every year, the areas of Sundarbans are losing land due to erosion. land erosion has increased in the southern region. especially Cutka and Mandar Bari areas are being eroded and disappearing into the sea. By this, the habitat of the animals is shrinking. In addition to climate change, the rivers, canals and streams flowing through the beautiful forest are being polluted by humans in various ways. Due to the construction of infrastructure, pollution from ships, the amount of oil is increasing along with salinity in the river water which is a threat to life and nature.

According to a study, around 2010, the amount of oil per liter of water in Pashur River was the maximum of 10.8 milligrams. And now it has increased almost sixfold, to 68 mg. In addition, on December 9, 2014, the Sundarbans suffered massive damage due to the sinking of a tank carrying three and a half lakh liters of furnace oil. Later there were several incidents of shipwrecks of potash, coal and clinker in rivers flowing through the forest.

Excess salinity in water, storm surges are making it unsafe for animals to drink water inside the forest, the number and intensity of storms has increased compared to before, and animal reproduction is also being disrupted.

Professor of Zoology Department of Jahangirnagar University. Monirul H Khan said, the Sundarbans environment is being irreparably damaged by humans.

An average of 3 to 5 tigers are killed by poachers every year. Poachers hunt tigers primarily for their skins and bones, which are sold for millions of rupees. In China and East Asian countries, the huge demand for tiger organs is increasing, and the world's endangered animals, the tigers, are dying. According to environmentalists, after 1975 the Sundarbans did not have any more tigers.

In 1999, up to 10 km around the forest was declared an 'Environmentally Critical Area' or ECA. And according to the Environment Protection Act, any type of factory is prohibited in ECA. Whereas in a document presented to the court by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change itself, it is said that 190 factories have valid permission to set up within 10 kilometers of the Sundarbans. The actual situation is more delicate. In the last eight to ten years, more than half a hundred heavy industrial companies have been established. These include hazardous factories like cement factories, LP gas plants, oil refineries, bitumen, sea food processing. And their liquid waste is dumped into the POSHUR river, which then flows into the Sundarbans, polluting the water and soil.

According to local fishermen, the reproductive capacity of fish has decreased compared to earlier. Many fish are almost extinct. Among them Pangos, Chakkhoda, Bangas, kaine, Medamash, Chakul/shapla pata, Armash, Gongune, Payra, Tade, Rayna, Bashpata fish, Gulemash, Chamogulo, Feshafish, Kharkull, Kaibol fish are notable.

Environmental activis Ram krishna claim that aquatic animals are disappearing due to illegal use of pesticides, poisoning and fishing in current nets.

The number of crocodiles has decreased. Birds are not seen in the forest like before. For example - Tarkael, Vulture, Fox, Crow, Darkak, Pecha, Snake, Dhade, Bugdasha, Tortoise, Madantak, Pankauri, Shankal, Pakch, Tia, Fye, Dharibak, Kuchbak Kolrob are no more. And all this is happening due to climate change and environmental pollution, said local environmentalists.

Meanwhile, in 2010, the St. Petersburg World Tiger Conference in Russia announced the doubling of the number of tigers, but Bangladesh has not been able to achieve that goal yet.

In this regard, Professor Monir H Khan said, the impact on the living environment of forest animals is damaging their foodchain, and thus the animals are becoming extinct. Which is an auspicious sign for animal diversity. If this continues, the country's economy will suffer along with the eco system and therefore the government must take necessary steps now.

Monir H Khan recommends taking adaptive measures to maintain the lifestyle of biodiversity. Along with that, he also talked about regular monitoring to prevent environmental pollution in the forest.

Mihir Kumar Do, forest conservator of Khulna region, said that they do not have any exact information regarding the biodiversity inside the forest. However, police personnel patrol the forest to prevent illegal activities.

Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. Its area is 6 thousand 17 square kilometers. On February 4, 1999, an area of about one lakh 43 thousand hectares of forest was declared as a sanctuary for wildlife. However, due to natural calamities such as floods, landslides, river erosion, most of the local residents of the area are making a living by cutting trees in the forest, illegally fishing and damaging the nature of the forest in various ways. Therefore, the environmentalists also urges to government to make alternative arrangements for their livelihood.

   

Dhaka is the sixth most polluted city in the world, Seoul is on top



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com
Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

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Today, Dhaka is sixth in the list of the most polluted cities in the world. The air quality of the capital has become 'unhealthy' with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 172 at 6:50 am today.

South Korea's capital Seoul topped the air quality index with 343. South Korea's Incheon, Pakistan's Lahore, Vietnam's Chiang Mai and India's Delhi occupy the second, third, fourth and fifth places in the list with AQI scores of 217, 187, 179 and 177 respectively.

An AQI score between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy' for sensitive groups. An AQI score between 201 and 300 is considered 'very unhealthy'. And an AQI between 301 and 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing a serious health risk to residents.

AQI in Bangladesh is determined based on 5 parameters of pollution, namely - Particulate Matter (PM10 & PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3).

Dhaka has been suffering from air pollution for a long time. Its air quality generally becomes unhealthy during winters and improves slightly during monsoons.

In March 2019, a report by the Department of Environment and the World Bank stated that the three main causes of Dhaka's air pollution are brick kilns, smoke from vehicles and dust from construction activities.

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Taka 400 crores laundered through digital Hundi, controlled by Dubai



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com
Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

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Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested 5 people for allegedly laundering around Tk. 400 crore abroad through Digital Hundi using Mobile Banking Service (MFS).

CID Chief Additional IGP Mohammad Ali Mia informed this in a press conference at CID headquarters on Thursday (March 28) afternoon.

The arrested are - Nasim Ahmed (62), the owner of Tasmia Associates, Fazle Rabbi Sumon (32), the territory sales manager of Agent SIM, Md. Kamruzzaman (33), Zahir Uddin (37), representative of Jet Robotics Apps Bangladesh and Khairul Islam alias Pius (34).

Additional IGP Mohammad Ali Mia said, a gang has smuggled around Tk. 400 crore abroad through digital Hundi using mobile banking services. Five members of this gang were arrested during the operation.

He said that Tk. 400 crores illegally came to Bangladesh through Jet Robotics app in the last few months. Police traced the app through intelligence.

He also said that the money of this gang was transacted from the Chattogram based distribution house. Five members of the gang were arrested in separate raids in Dhaka and Chattogram on Wednesday night.

He said that Tk. 28 lakh 51 thousand cash was seized from them at the time of arrest. He said that they used to rent development agent SIMS and deliver money through them to the grassroots level.

The head of CID said that Mamun, the master of this gang lives in Dubai. He is using agent SIM here. This app used for smuggling cannot work outside 48 SIM along the specific link sent from Dubai. Only seven people can enter this app.

Referring to this as a modern form of Hundi business, he said, money is being circulated in the country through this app by blocking remittances coming to Bangladesh. Already we got 5-7 more such organizations who are working like this.

He said, in the last three months, Tk. 400 crores have been hindered from coming to Bangladesh through Jet Robotic Apps. Five people using these apps have been arrested and their devices seized.

He said, Chattogram's development distribution house Tasmia Associates company has 1000 Bkash Agent SIMs. These agent SIMs who are not performing well, the agent SIMs provide DSOs to the users of Jet Robotic Apps.

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Demand for punishment for those responsible for electrocution death in Moulvibazar



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
Photo: barta24.com

Photo: barta24.com

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The death of 6 members of the same family due to electrocution in Moulvibazar is very shocking and heartbreaking. The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission Dr. Kamaluddin Ahmed said that the main responsible person and institution should be brought under accountability.

He made this comment at a discussion on 'Role of Media in Protection of Human Rights and Consumer Rights' organized by 'Business Digest' at a hotel in the capital on Thursday (March 28).

The Chairman of the Human Rights Commission said, after investigating the incident of Moulvibazar, appropriate legal action should be taken against those responsible and necessary measures should be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. We could not do anything for one family, but we have to do for hundreds of such families.

He also said that the issue of rights is directly and indirectly the daily practice of the media. Media can question all the irregularities; make people aware of their rights and duties and play an important role in establishing rights. We can carry out reformative activities only in view of the news published in the media.

Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed called on the media workers to take all-out efforts to spread the necessary knowledge about the constitution, law and rights among the people.

At one stage of the discussion, he said about the recurrence of fires, we have not learned proper lessons from the big fires and explosions in Nimatli, Newmarket and Bangabazar in the past years. Had we taken effective measures, recurrence of fires could have been prevented.

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Suggestion to introduce Human Rights Wing in the Foreign Ministry



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended setting up a new wing on human rights to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The suggestion was made at the parliamentary committee meeting held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhavan on Thursday (March 28). After the meeting, this information was informed in a press release of the Parliament Secretariat.

The meeting recommended taking necessary steps to recognize March 25 as International Genocide Day. A proposal was made in the meeting to visit the Rohingya camps Kutupalong and Bhasanchar with the members of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chairman of the committee AK Abdul Momen chaired the meeting and members of the committee and Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, Shahriar Alam, Nahim Razzak, Nizam Uddin Jalil, Nurul Islam Nahid, Habibur Rahman, Saimum Sarwar, Zara Zabeen Mahbub took part in the meeting. #

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