The environment of Tanguar haor (Bangladesh) are at risk
Tanguar Haor , located in the Dharmapasha and Tahirpur Upazilas of Sunamganj District in Bangladesh, is the country’s second Ramsar region. The Haor (Wetland) and its biodiversity are at risk from extreme tourist pressure.
About 250 engine-driven trawlers are plying in the Haor with visitors during the daytime. Even though the Haor area is a sanctuary for fish and birds, it’s getting exposed to loud music—polythene-plastic floating on the water surface.
Visitors are more interested in the Hijal-Karach garden adjacent to the Tanguar Watchtower at Gola bari. So every day, tourists are coming here loaded with engine-driven trawlers, launches where the mic is playing loudly. Plastic bottles and polythene bags used by tourists are ending up in the Haor.
The local district administration has allowed 250 trawlers to ride over the Haor this season despite all this.
Meanwhile, Locals said that “Some efforts initiated to bring the Haor back to its former life and nature since it got recognized as an ecologically critical area under the Ramsar policy. But all the resources of Haor’s are facing destruction in the long run.
In the last one and a half decades, tourists visiting the protected area have increased. Environmentalists allege that the noise of motorboats, including speedboats, engine boats, launches, and the waste used by tourists are destroying the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem of the Haor.
Apart from the Hijal-Karach garden, the Patli Chirping spring in Tahirpur is also trendy. This stream coming down from Kalapahar in Meghalaya takes its complete form during June-July of the year. It is the primary source of water for the Garos (tribe). But the balance of the environment is being lost due to the pressure of the visitors.
Researchers claim that while there is a proposal to develop eco-friendly tourism in Haor, none of this is getting implementation. Ecology is ruining as everyone’s attention is on business expansion.
Ainun Nishat, a Climate researcher, said, “Everything has a proper schedule. Tourists should go to Haor to see birds in the morning if not in the evening. But our tourists are staying and cheering all day long, which is ruining the sound environment for birds.”
Tanguar hoar is also known as a natural aquarium since it is home to millions of migratory birds in winter and a sanctuary for 150 species of freshwater fishes. So it is undoubtedly an environmentally protected area. Researchers believe that noise pollution should ban in this area.
Many peoples are losing their lives while visiting haor area. The nuisance of ingenious individuals is also increasing. It is a matter of grief that the tourist police’s activities under surveillance are pretty much inactive in maintaining their duties.
