Author(s): Hamidulhuq
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Abstract: As it is delineated by the Master Plan of Haor Area, 2012, ‘Haor with their unique hydroecological characteristics are large bowl shaped floodplain depressions located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh covering about 1.99 million ha (19,998 sq. km. ) of area and accommodating about 19.37 million people. There are 373 haor/wetlands located in the districts of Sunamganj, Habiganj, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Maulvibazar and Brahmanbaria. These373 haor cover an area of about 858,000 ha which is about 43% of the total area of the haor region. It is a mosaic of wetland habitats including rivers, streams, canals, large areas of seasonally flooded cultivated plains and beels’. The Master Plan of Haor Area, 2012 noted, haor area is still under-developed due to its physical and hydrological settings, although it is one of the major economic production zones of the country. Agriculture and fisheries are the main bases of the diversified economic resources of the area. About 0.71 million ha of net cultivable land is available in this area, which produces more than 5.25 million tons of paddy each year. However, Haor is experienced that sudden intrusion of flash flood destroy agricultural production of about 0.33 million ha, worth Tk. 3,486 million or3% of the national agricultural contribution to theGross Domestic Product (GDP). Since Boro rice is the only crop produced annually in most of the haor areas, the current economic system for non-aquatic resources offers very limited potential in terms of poverty alleviation.
Year: 2018