Suddenly reckless deer hunters in Sundarbans.

Md. Shamim Hossain –

Khulna Deer poaching has suddenly increased in the Sundarbans. The hunters in the area around the forest are recklessly hunting the deer regularly and selling the meat and its skin. Some fishermen are also using venison to make crab bait. Forest guards have arrested 10 deer poachers in the last 15 days. 46 kg deer meat, four skins, deer traps, 20 rounds of bullets and a trawler were recovered from them. Some fishermen, who did not want to be named, said deer poaching has increased more than before. Hunters are selling deer meat to trap in the deep forest. Fishermen say they are threatened if they speak out against poachers. Crab hunters are also making bait out of meat by hunting deer extensively. Hunters from Sonatala, Panirghat, Rajapur, Rasulpur, Jiudhra, Patharghat Charduani, Gnanpara areas of East Sundarbans in Sharankhola of East Sundarbans enter the Sundarbans in the guise of fishermen for business purposes and bring deer to the locality. Many poachers again secretly enter the Sundarbans and hunt deer. And some fishermen of Rampal and Satkhira areas hunt deer to make crab bait. Apart from this, deer are hunted in the favorable places of deep forest including Supati, Dubla, Katka, Kachikhali, Badamtala, Chandeshwar, Tiarchar, Kokilmuni, Andharmanik in Sundarbans to get the Laylon trap. They smuggle deer meat locally at convenient times by putting ice inside the fish. Deer meat is sold for 800 to 1000 taka per kg. Meanwhile, there are allegations that hunters are regularly hunting deer under the umbrella of local influentials. Even though two-four cases of deer smuggling have been caught by the forest guards, it has also been alleged that the poachers are escaping easily through loopholes in the law. Sundarbans Co-Management Committee (CMC) member Oliar Rahman said, ‘The deer poaching gang in Sundarbans has become reckless. The people of the forest area are more involved in deer hunting. He demanded to identify them and bring them under the law. He said, “Hunters hunt deer with the help of local influencers. Forest guards need to be more conscious to protect forest biodiversity. Chairman of Save the Sundarban Foundation. Sheikh Faridul Islam told Bangla Tribune, “This inactivity has increased in the Sundarbans due to the indifference and negligence of the officials of the forest department. Pointing out that the forest department should be stricter, he said, “Apart from raising awareness, strict laws should also be made for the deer poachers who are caught. Forest department sources said that on February 5, a dinghy with 20 kg of deer meat was seized from Ishaq’s Chila area of Sundarban’s Chandpai range. The poachers ran away. On January 27, forest guards arrested five deer hunters with deer meat and traps from Jamtala and Alorkol in Dubla. The arrested Nawresh, Pradeep, Rajiv, Yunus and Idris are residents of Sriphaltala village in Rampal. On January 25, the forest guards arrested a hunter named Hero Akon of Patharghata along with 20 kg deer meat and 20 rounds of bullets from Neelkamal area of Sundarbans. On January 23, forest guards of Sharankhola station recovered two deer skins from Tanjer Ali’s house in Khuriakhali village of Sharankhola. On the evening of January 22, Kachikhali forest guards arrested two poachers with a trawler and 15 kg of deer meat from Kachikhali egg pasture in Sundarbans. The arrested Nizam and Idris’s house is in Padmasuluiz area of Patharghatar. Earlier on January 18, two people were arrested with 5 kg of deer meat from Narkelbaria in Dubla Char and sent to jail through the court. The Divisional Forest Officer of East Sundarbans Muhammad Belayet Hossain claimed to the Bangla Tribune that regular patrols of the Forest Department are continuing to catch deer poachers. Poachers are being caught due to regular patrolling. However, he also said that the process of reforming the law to prevent illegal activities of these arrested hunters is going on to make the law more strict. Khulna University Department of Environmental Science Professor Dr. Abdullah Harun Chowdhury told Bangla Tribune, “If the concerned officials of the forest department do not provide proper monitoring, then this crime will continue. People cannot always be stopped by law, in this case awareness should be raised. And if not, miscreants will make miscreants. If awareness can be raised, the illegal activities of deer hunters in the Sundarbans can be prevented.

A discussion meeting was held at Dakop to celebrate the Sundarbans Day.

Md. Shamim Hossain –

Khulna A discussion meeting was held in Dakop to celebrate Sundarbans Day with the slogan “Love Sundarbans on World Love Day”. A discussion meeting organized by Sundarban Academy in collaboration with NGO Rupantar was held at Chilan Municipal Auditorium on Tuesday at 11:00 am. Chalan Municipality Mayor Sanat Kumar Biswas spoke as the chief guest in the discussion meeting held under the chairmanship of Ward No. 8 Abdul Gafur Sana of Chalan Municipality. At the beginning of the meeting, Md. Sirajul Islam, executive officer of Chalan municipality, read the main article demanding the observance of Sundarbans Day nationally. ECR WASH project manager of Rupantar Shaheen Islam, SCREEM project district officer Sheikh Jarjis Ullah, Chilan Municipality councilor A. Barik Sheikh, Amodini Roy, Hasina Begum, Sudhindranath Biswas Makhan, Shubhankar Roy, A. Sattar, Rustum Ali Khan, Ayub Ali Kazi, Chayan Saha, Nasima Begum, Dakop Press Club President Md. Shipan Bhuiyan, Former General Secretary Azgar Hossain Chhabir, Deepak Roy, Vithika Roy, Kumaresh Mondal, Archana Roy, Beauty Roy, Mahadev Mondal, Milton, Vipul Roy, Project Officer of Rupantar Scream Project, Field Officer Namita Mallick and others.