SANGSAD BHABAN, June 13, 2019 (BSS) – The government will take steps to declare Halda River, the country’s lone natural breeding ground of carp fishes, as an ecologically critical area (ECA) area.
“Steps will be taken in the coming days for the protection of Halda River, including declaration of the river as an ecologically critical area (ECA),” Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said this while placing the budget for fiscal 2019-20 in parliament here today.
A recent report by the Department of Environment (DoE) states that the discharge of industrial effluents into the Halda River is causing depletion of fish stocks.
The minister said initiatives will also be taken to introduce ecotourism in various protected areas of the country.
He pointed out that the allocation for climate financing was 5.37 percent of the development budget in fiscal 2014-15, which has increased to 8.26 percent (0.75 percent of GDP) in fiscal 2018-19.