Conservation of water bodies to maintain ecological balance stressed

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City Desk :
Speakers at a participatory discussion stressed the need for proper conservation of the existing water bodies in the region particularly its vast barind tract to maintain ecological balance.
They said a large number of water-bodies like ponds, canals and other wetlands have become derelict due to the adverse impact of climate change posing a serious threat to ecology and biodiversity coupled with the living and livelihood condition of the people.
Enriching the surface water through re-excavating the derelict water-bodies across the area could be good means of overcoming the crisis.
Necessary steps should be taken to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change in the region to protect its living and livelihood condition from further degradation.
They viewed that the ongoing climate change at alarming rates has severely affected every sector including agriculture and its diversity creating a real threat to food production.
The observations came at a daylong consultation workshop titled “Conservation and Protection of Derelict Water bodies in Barind Tract” held yesterday at Warishan Restaurant in Rajshahi.
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) organized the workshop to discuss various issues related to conservation and enriching surface water resources.
With Advocate Abdus Samad, local unit coordinator of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, in the chair, Executive Chief of Center for Capacity Building of Voluntary Organization Sarwar-E-Kamal Swapan, BELA Research Officer AMM Mamun and Divisional Coordinator Tonmy Sanyal addressed the session.
The speakers unequivocally called for undertaking a need-oriented step to ensure use of water for drinking and irrigation purposes in the vast tract of dried Barind area.
Importance should be given to renovating and preserving the derelict ponds and canals through re-excavation to ensure sustainable livelihood of the poor farmers.
Because of the adverse impacts of climate change, they said extreme droughts, abnormal lowering of groundwater, pest attacks in the crop fields and many other natural calamities have been causing huge damages in the area too.
Instead of indiscriminate use of groundwater, water reservoirs for irrigation purposes has become an urgent need for boosting agricultural productions for ensuring food security in the wake of adverse impacts of climate change.
They pointed out that the existing agricultural system has started facing a serious threat because of climate change that also leads to various natural disasters.
During his keynote presentation, AMM Mamun said that the climate change has now become a major concern for agriculture, environment, ecology, bio-diversity, climatic patterns and even existence of the habitation and civilization in the Barind area.
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