Satkhira, April 23 – Unplanned cultivation of shrimp, known as white gold and the main source of income for people in Assasuni upazila, are damaging roads and dams, putting the lives of local residents at risk.
According to locals, they are facing the risks of floods due to the damaged embankments and roads although the government spends crores of taka every year for repairing those.
Officials sources said several thousand shrimp farmers, owners, labourers of 41 depots, six ice factories, one hatchery and 20 vessels in the upazila earn their livelihood from shrimp processing business.
According to Assasuni Upazila Fisheries Office, about 23,000 farmers in different villages cultivate shrimp in 13,236 fish enclosures.
But the shrimp cultivation is carried out in an unplanned and unscientific manner, damaging the roads and embankments of the upazila.
A number of shrimp farmers with the help of unscrupulous officials of Water Development Board set up pipes in the dams to ensure the supply of saline water for their shrimp farming, making the dams vulnerable, alleged villagers.
During monsoon, many of the risky dams collapse flooding villages under different unions of the upazila every year.
“As per government rules, shrimp farmers have to exclude government spaces while cultivating shrimp but most of the farmers cultivate shrimp defying the rules,” said Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Selim Khan.
Local public representatives and administration have been campaigning in various seminars to create awareness among the villages and farmers in this regard, he added. -UNB
