Mehdi Hasan Nayan, Bagerhat

The mangrove Sundarbans in the southern part of the country are being opened on the first day of September for foresters and tourists after a ban of three months.

Due to the long three-month ban on entering the Sundarbans, the fishermen who depend on the forest have been living an inhumane life. Traders who depend on Sundarbans have also suffered financially and now their expectations have turned around. Due to the ban, none of the fishermen and tourists could enter the Sundarbans, the trawler owners and the workers associated with the fishermen also had a hard time. Foresters who are in poverty want to forget their hardships and return to the Sundarbans in search of sustenance with renewed enthusiasm. Fishermen who depend on the forest will also go in search of their livelihood. This has brought relief to the common people involved in these professions. Meanwhile, fishermen, tour operators, launches and boatmen are preparing to enter the Sundarbans.

Mongla port tour operator. Emadul Haque said that the ban has been lifted by crossing the Padma bridge and many tourists will flock to the Sundarbans every day. We have already started preparing for this.

Siraj Sheikh Jewel Majhi, Rahim Trader of Sundarbans, said that due to lack of alternative employment, fishermen and fishermen dependent on Sundarbans had to live an inhumane life without food for three months. So, as soon as the ban is lifted, they will rush to the Sundarbans in search of livelihood with a permit from the forest department. Now they just have to wait.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Sundarbans East Division Muhammad Belayet Hossain said that during the breeding season of wild animals, the entry of all types of people including tourists and fishermen is banned in the Sundarbans during the three months of June, July and August. As access to the Sundarbans was closed for three months, wildlife was able to breed unhindered. As a result of which the reproduction of wildlife in the Sundarbans has increased.

He also said that now they have seen various types of wildlife including deer, monkey, Guisap python roaming in different areas of the forest. After three months of closure, the Sundarbans are being opened for tourists to visit from Friday. In the meantime they have completed all kinds of preparations. As the Padma Bridge has been opened, people from different districts of the country including Dhaka will be able to travel to the Sundarbans and return within a day. He is hopeful that due to the Padma bridge, the tourists will come down to the Sundarbans and it will play a major role in the tourism sector of the country.

Howladar Azad Kabir, officer-in-charge of Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Center of Sundarbans East Division, said that the tourist spots in different areas of the forest have been renovated and cleaned. Sundarbans is ready for domestic and foreign tourists. Most of the tourists visiting Sundarbans have come to Karamjal.

According to Azad Kabir’s information, since tourist entry and fishing in rivers and canals are closed for three months in the Sundarbans, tigers, deer, monkeys, pythons, snakes, takshets, kachims, crocodiles, guisaps, and other types of wildlife are roaming around near his office, and in the rivers and canals inside the forest. Fish have increased.