The boats are anchored on the banks of the Halda river as a ban has been imposed on fishing. A fisherman, inset, takes a nap on his boat in the river. PHOTO: ANURUP KANTI DAS

"I have a nine-member family, which is completely dependent on my fishing in the Halda river. Since 2007, the government has been planning to impose an embargo on fishing in the river that was fully implemented last year, thus creating a tough situation for the fishermen,” said Abdus Sattar, 49, resident of Garduara of Raozan upazila in Chittagong, who has been fishing in the Halda river for last 30 years.
Sattar said, under the project titled “Restoration of the natural breeding habitats of the Halda river1”, the government allotted Tk 10,000 as loan to each fisherman for 15 months that was handed over to some of them in installments.
He said the monthly expenditure of his family is about Tk.9,000-10,000 whereas the government allotted the fishermen only Tk10,000 as loan for 15 months.
Rakhal Jalodas, 46, a fisherman of the same area, said he got Tk 2,800 as loan for six months, that is Tk 466 per month, which is too little amount to sustain a family.
After the embargo on fishing in Halda river, “People in this area, who depend on the river for their livelihood, have fallen into deep crisis. As most of them do not have experience of other works, they have been passing their present days without any work.” he added.
He said, now, they could not bear other expenditures of family like children's education cost and medical cost. Family expenditures created a lot of debt for them.
Most of the fishermen in the area made similar remarks about the loan.
The government sanctioned the loan programme without properly surveying on the fisherman of Halda river, they said adding that the government should set up alternative earning sources for them.
On condition of anonymity a group of fishermen said when they faced financial crisis they went for fishing in the river despite the embargo.
If the government did not raise the loan amount, the fishermen would keep fishing in the river. If the government allocated at least Tk 50,000 per head it would be worth doing something feasible, they added.
Pravati Devi, the project's director, condemned the complain saying that the loan amount may be insufficient, but it's still better than having no help at all.
This is the first time that the government has allotted a fund for Halda, indicating the government's attempt for the river's better interest, she said.
She said the loan was distributed through an NGO named 'Nowzuan'. The loan project is a revolving project and will never stop. The current loan is scheduled to finish within June, 2013 after which the money will not go back to the government but will be kept at Upazila Nirbahi Officer's office.
Fishermen will get the loan service life long, she said adding that, the government allotted Tk 2 crore for loan under the project and, of this, they have distributed Tk 1.33 crore to 130 fishermen. Rest of the fishermen will get the loan in the next phase, she said.
She, however, said it is not possible to increase the loan amount in short time.
Mohammad Imam Hossain Chowdhury, chief executive of Nowzuan, suggested the government to cut short the duration of loan installments to the fisherman to ensure the best use of the loan money.