Country exists for Sunderbans: PM

Highlighting the importance of the Sunderbans for the country’s existence, prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said that whatever project the government took for development it did that keeping the mangrove forest in mind so that it did not get affected in any way.
‘Whatever project we take, at least we put a special attention to the Sunderbans so that this forest does not get affected in any way… we’ve taken all our projects keeping this in mind,’ she said.
The prime minister was speaking at the function of World Environment Day, Tree Fair and Campaign for Tree Plantation at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Hasina said, ‘The Sunderbans is not only a heritage for Bangladesh, it is also important for the country’s existence... it survives for the Sunderbans. 
‘To expand the Sunderbans, we’ve already taken an initiative to create artificial mangrove forests.’
The prime minister also mentioned that she had given directives to the authorities concerned so that such forests could be expanded to all the coastal areas of the country.
She mentioned that her government had taken various steps to preserve the bio-diversity of the Sunderbans and introduced smart patrolling to contain forest crimes inside it.
‘We’ve taken initiatives to create alternative employment opportunities for the local people who are dependent on the Sunderbans for their livelihood so that unnecessary tree cutting in the Sunderbans comes to an end,’ Hasina said.
Earlier, the prime minister handed over Bangabandhu Award for Wildlife Conservation, National Environment Award and Prime Minister’s National Award for Tree Plantation at the event.
Environment and forests minister Anwar Hossain Manju, deputy minister Abdullah Al Islam Jakob and secretary Istiaque Ahmed, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Putting importance to effective waste management in industrial zones, the prime minister said that she had already directed for ensuring central effluent treatment plants there.
She said that her government had made it mandatory in every industrial zone to build ETPs to ensure waste management centrally, and directed all concerned to strictly monitor so that no one could violate the government’s directives.
Hasina said that hills, seas, rivers and canals, and plants and animals had made Bangladesh, the biggest delta in the world, full of biodiversity and this biodiversity provided necessary food, clothes and housing materials for the people.
She said that the country’s biodiversity was now facing a challenge due to overpopulation, indiscriminate felling of trees and extraction of natural resources, cutting of hills, filling of water-bodies, reduction in navigability, misuse of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture and above all unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation.
Mentioning a two-way measure to protect the environment, the prime minister said that her government had taken very effective steps to reduce the environmental pollution on one hand and taken initiatives to face adverse impact of the climate change through tree plantation and creating afforestation on the other.
She said that her government had recently enacted the Bangladesh Biodiversity Act 2016 to preserve biodiversity in the country and ensure sustainable extraction of the resources. 
Hasina urged all to plant at least one fruit, one timber and one herbal sapling to maintain the country’s natural and ecological balance and make it a green-economy dependent ‘Sonar Bangla’.
Deputy commissioner of Barisal Gazi Md Saifuzzaman and Mokarram Hossain of Kalabagan, Dhaka received the National Environment Award in the individual category while Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd got it in the institution category for their contributions towards protecting the environment and checking pollution.
Chittagong University botany professor Shafique Haidar Chowdhury, journalist Ataur Rahman Kajal of Srimangal, and Rinku Rani Mandal, on behalf of the Village Tiger Response Team, received the Bangabandhu Award for the Wildlife Conservation 2017.
Hasina also handed over cheques among the beneficiaries of the social afforestation programme.
Later, the prime minister planted a jackfruit sapling at the BCCI compound marking the National Tree Plantation Campaign.
She also inaugurated the National Environment Fair and National Tree Fair 2017 at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is ‘Connecting to the Nature’ while the theme of the National Tree Plantation Campaign is ‘Those who plant tree become rich’.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com