Rajshahi: Social watchdogs at a climate strike meeting here today unequivocally called for the formation of a drought fund and drought policy for the water-stressed Barind region. They unanimously mentioned that the region has been facing multifarious crises caused by the adverse impact of climate change. In the region, the crises of social violence, biodiversity, living and livelihood condition of people and their food security are apprehended due to heat, drought, and acute water crises in the future.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) and Barendra Region Youth Forum (BYF) jointly organized the climate strike event at Shaheb Bazar Zero Point to press home their demands for the formation of a drought fund and drought policy. BYF President Shaikh Tasnim Jamal and its Joint General Secretary Atikur Rahman, BARCIK Regional Coordinator Shahidul Islam, Convener of July 36 Parishad Mahmud Jamal Kadery, Executive Director of Social Welfare Organisation Samrat Raihan, President of Adivasi Juba Parishad Upen Rabidas, and Youth Unit Convener of Save the Nature and Life Julfiker Ali Haider addressed the meeting.
Shaikh Tasnim Jamal opined that time-befitting measures need to be adopted urgently to boost agricultural production for ensuring food security amid the adverse impacts of climatic changes. The ongoing climate change at alarming rates has severely affected winter vegetable farming and its diversity, creating a real threat to food production, he mentioned. The developed countries should fulfill their commitment to climate funding and ensure transparency in the use of this fund.
Shahidul Islam emphasized that the legitimate rights of the farmers and others concerned should be protected rightly for the sake of encouraging them towards boosting agricultural production to meet up its gradually mounting demands. He referred to the enormous contribution of farmers to the country's agricultural development and said the farmers deserve the rights of getting all requisite privileges. There is no alternative to protecting their interests as a whole.
Mahmud Jamal Kadery highlighted that the adverse impact of climate change has been posing a serious threat to the overall living and livelihood condition in the region, including its vast Barind tract. He acknowledged climate change as the depletion of natural resources and a major threat to humanity in the region and urged policy planners and others concerned to take immediate effective measures to address the adverse impact of the change caused by global warming.