As the government of Bangladesh has imposed a one-year ban on access to resources in the Sundarbans, the livelihood of about 3.5 million (35 lakh) forest-dependent people has become uncertain. The ban has been put in place with an aim to protect the wildlife and forest resources of the world largest mangrove forest from intruders and poachers. However, the fishermen, honey and wood collectors who solely rely on the forest for survival are at a risk of being unemployed as no other alternative income generation has been arranged for them yet.
The brunt of the restrictions of movement inside the Sundarbans has severely affected local fishermen. Earlier, they used to go for fishing via Dublar Char-Alorkol route through the Poshur River in the Sundarbans that took 8 hours in the journey. But, now due to the ban, they need to go through Baleshwar-Bogi and Char Dowani which takes about 32 hours. Talking this correspondent, some fishermen alleged that they do not have enough ice to preserve fishes for 32 long hours, and, hence, they have stopped fishing. Around 50,000 fishermen in the area are now jobless even though they have legal permits to conduct fishing. This has led to an acute shortage of fish in Khulna’s kitchen markets as no new supply of fish are available to be put on sale.
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