Local fishermen have continued to catch fish, despite a two-month government ban on fishing in the Lakshmipur-Chandpur's Meghna River.
Reported irregularities in the government's food assistance program—created to provide food for the fishermen during the March and April ban, the ilish breeding period—are forcing the fishermen to fish for their survival.
Locals claim that the list made for the government's fishermen food support program is faulty, and corrupt, as it lists local politicians and farmers other than the struggling fishermen.
According to local Department of Fisheries (DOF) sources, there have been 49 drives in the area to stop illegal fishing in the Meghna River. In the drives, 26 fishermen were arrested and 1,400,000 metres of illegal electric fishing nets were destroyed. Also, 27 cases have been filed and Tk 83,000 has been collected in fines.
There are more than 62,000 fishermen in the region, of which 50,252 are registered on the government's list and 42,326 have identity (ID) cards as fishermen.
Due to the ban, 25,947 fishermen's families were brought under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) program. However, due to irregularities and corruption, many of the fishermen and their families did not receive their due rations. Thus, many ignored the ban and kept fishing in order to support their families.
When asked about the proceedings, District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Mahfuzur Rahman said: "The VGF program included 25,987 fishermen families so that they had food during the two-month ban on fishing in the Meghna River.
"A total 4,151.520 metric tons of rice has been allocated for the fishermen's families, of which: 535.200 metric tons are for Lakshmipur Sadar, 671.360 for Raypur, 1802 for Ramgoti, and 1142.560 metric tons for Komolnagar.
"The respective areas' chairmen are supposed to distribute 40kg of rice per family, every month, from February till May."
Commenting on his current situation, Kanchon, a local fishermen, said: "I have a fisherman's ID card, and despite that, I did not receive any food assistance from the government.
"The chairmen responsible for the food distribution demanded Tk 500-1000 in bribes. Most of the people receiving food assistance are not connected to fishing and are the followers of the different chairmen and members. Adding to this, a number of fishmongers did not get ID cards."
Responding to the claims of the fishermen of the area, Char Kalkini Union Parishad Chairman Md Chayef Ullah said: "We could not bring the rice provided by the VGF program for the local fishermen due to the recently held upazila polls. However, we will start distributing the rice within eight to 10 days."
When asked about the irregularities and corruption regarding the VGF fishermen list the local chairman said: "We, alone, did not prepare the list. We just assisted the taskforce assigned to organize the list. I did not ask for any money to list any of the fishmongers."
Refuting all the allegations made by the local fishermen and their families District Fisheries Officer H M Mahib Ullah said: "The drives this season to prevent fishermen from fishing during the ilish breeding season have been very successful. The administration, local Fisheries Department, and Coast Guard are all working together.
"The VGF list needs to be updated thus some are facing problems. We will update the list as soon as we receive the approval from the departments concerned."