Undertake master plan for haor areas

The long-neglected vast haor areas in the country are going to get a facelift as an elevated road along with bridges, culverts, and other necessary infrastructures will be constructed in five upazilas of Sunamganj and Netrokona districts. The project involving Tk3,490 crore, got approval from the Ecnec meeting on Tuesday, will provide a much-needed fillip for haor residents of the two districts. The project area will cover Dharmapasha, Tahirpur, Bishamvarpur, and Jamalganj upazilas of Sunamganj district and also Barhatta upazila of Netrokona district. The Local Government and Engineering Department will implement the project by June, 2025.

However, residents of five other haor districts will feel left out of national development, as they too deserve better infrastructure in their respective areas they have been residing for ages.

The haor region has long been lagging behind mainstream national development, despite enviable economic development of Bangladesh in the last two decades. The government has taken up many development initiatives including the preparation of national and regional strategies to steer economic growth and has accordingly prepared plans over the years to boost the country’s development. It is difficult to achieve the country’s overall progress without the development of the entire haor region as it covers a huge part of the country and its population. The future challenges arising out of climate change consequences are also a major concern for sustainable and continued development of the region.

Haors with their unique hydro-ecological characteristics are large bowl-shaped floodplain depressions located in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh covering about 19,998 sq km of area and accommodating roughly two crore population. There are 373 haors or wetlands located in the districts of Sunamganj, Sylhet, Habiganj, Maulvibazar, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, and Brahmanbaria. It is a mosaic of wetland habitats including rivers, streams, canals, large areas of seasonally flooded cultivated plains and beels.

The road communication system in the haor areas is still underdeveloped. The existing communication system is basically based on rural submerged roads, which can only be used during the dry season while water vehicles are the main modes of transportation during the rainy season.

Due to the existing underdeveloped road communication system, transportation of agricultural products, development of rural infrastructures, creation of employment opportunities, availability of social facilities, especially education and health are largely being hampered.

Under this project, around 97.86 kilometre of all-season upazila roads and 20.27 km of union roads will be constructed. Constructions of 16.53 km submersible upazila roads and 22.86 km submersible union and village roads are also included in the project.

Besides, 10.71 km elevated road, 57 bridges and 118 culverts will also be constructed.

Bringing the entire haor areas in the country under a development master plan will boost the economic activities in the haor region and thus empower the huge underprivileged population. Blessed with exquisite natural beauty, haors are natural habitat of indigenous fishes and birds. Turning the haor and wetland areas into tourist spots will bring further economic and social upliftment for the local population. The wide variety of rice and vegetable grown in haor regions is another important aspect requiring attention from the policymakers on a holistic basis. Around two crore haor people have been depending solely on the crop season, as the vast population remains unemployed during the dry season.

The haor ecosystem of Bangladesh plays a dual role: local economic development through agricultural income-earning activities and preserving the environment. Small haor farmers face a variety of challenges that confined their access to the market due to their poor economic status and geographical locations, weighing on their resilience status. 

Haors need embankments to protect homesteads, cropland, and small business establishments. A roadmap designed to improve the physical infrastructure and economic status of vast haor areas falling under all seven districts will surely contribute to the economy and have a reflection on the lifestyles of the hitherto neglected two crore people.

We urge the authorities concerned to chalk out a comprehensive master plan to develop our haor areas.