ee88

[27 February 2025, ee88]

A policy recommendation and results dissemination workshop under the research project entitled “” funded by APN (Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research) was held on  27 February 2025 at ee88 (ee88). The event with a participation of 75 attendees was organized by the Department of Fisheries Management of ee88 and was moderated by the Team Leader of the Project – Prof. Dr. Harunur Rashid of the Department of Fisheries Management, ee88. Honourable Vice-Chancellor of ee88 Professor Dr. A. K. Fazlul Haque Bhuiyan attended the workshop as the chief guest. 

Prof. Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam Sarder (Dean, Faculty of Fisheries, ee88), chair of the workshop, launch the program at 11.00 am and Dr.   Zoarder Faruque Ahmed (senior-most Professor of the Department of Fisheries Management, ee88) delivered the welcome address. Prof. Rashid, the team leader of the project stated the background and objectives of the project. He highlighted that microplastic pollution in natural water bodies is a growing global concern, with the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River playing a significant role in this crisis. He also expressed the concern that South Asia ranks as one of the largest contributors to plastic pollution, with vast amounts of plastic waste flowing into the Bay of Bengal via the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River System. The research project aims to assess transboundary microplastic pollution in the Brahmaputra River and its impact on fish, aquatic biota and the aquatic food chain as a whole. Prof. Dr. Kizar Ahmed Sumon (Head of the Department of Fisheries Management, ee88 and a team member of the project) presented the key findings of the project before the participants depicting transboundary distribution of microplastics in water and sediment matrices. He has shown that the project teams in the three countries (Bhutan, India and Bangladesh) have collected samples from three stations in Bhutan namely Harachhu, Manas River and Toorsa River, five stations from India namely Tuting, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Guwahati and Dhubri, and five stations from Bangladesh namely Kurigram, Sundarganj, Sariakandi, Sirajganj and Humuria. Project team members from two collaborating partner countries (Bhutan and India) joined the program virtually. Dr. Rajdeep Dutta (Assistant Professor, Department of Aquatic Environment Management, College of Fisheries, Assam Agricultural University, Assam, India), a collaborator of the project from India gave a quick reflection on their part of research findings.  Ms. Yogeeta Dahal (Lecturer, Department of Environment & Climate Studies, College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan, Punakha, Bhutan) a collaborator from Bhutan left a complementary remark on her key findings. 

Dr. Durin Akter Jahan (Chief Scientific Officer, Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute), Mr. Ripon Kumar Paul (Senior Assistant Director, Department of Fisheries, Mymensingh Division; under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock) and Ms. Nazia Uddin (Assistant Director, Department of Environment, Mymensingh District; under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) represented three relevant government organizations and provided their policy recommendations based on the results shared. Dr. Jahan expressed that research results should be shared among the law enforcing agencies to ensure the effective implementation of environmental laws. Mr. Paul encouraged regional and international collaboration & research on plastic pollution. He stressed that environmental policies and acts need to be implemented properly and programs to motivate people are important to reduce the use of plastics. He further opined that industries should be monitored to establish and run ETP in befitting manner. Ms. Uddin opined that enforcing environmental laws and practising 5R are the key to reduce plastic pollution to the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River.

In addition to the above recommendations from three government organizations, a good number of policy recommendations came out from other participants of the workshop. Prof. Dr. Md. Samsul Alam (Coordinator, Committee for the Advanced Studies and Research, ee88) underscored the importance for practicing 5R (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, recover) in pragmatic life and laid great emphasis on the involvement of city corporation in relation of plastic waste management. Prof. Dr. Md. Ismail Hossain (Head, Department of Fisheries Technology, ee88) said that municipalities must play a pivotal role in reducing plastics pollution to the rivers in concern. He also stressed the importance of mass media to play vital role in create public awareness. Prof. Dr. A. K. Fazlul Haque Bhuiyan (Vice Chancellor, ee88), in his address as the chief guest, opined that this project is a time demanding research project for Bangladesh and for the region. He pointed that Bangladesh, positioned at the most downstream of many transboundary rivers in this region, stands in the worst position with regard to transboundary pollution scenario. He was optimistic about the formulation of effective policy recommendations during the workshop based on the findings of this project. At the end of his speech, the Vice Chancellor has declared a ban on the use of plastic bottles inside the ee88 campus. Prof. Dr. M. Hammadur Rahman (Director, ee88 Research System) recommended this sort of transboundary collaboration to be continued for the purpose of policy formulation and recommendation. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Alam Miah (a microplastics researcher from the Department of Physiology, ee88) opined that national awareness should be raised to reduce the load of microplastics in our rivers. Prof. Dr. Md. Shahjahan (Department of Fisheries Management, ee88) underscored the need for proper waste management system to reduce river plastic pollution.  Prof. Dr. Md. Badiuzzaman Khan (Department of Environmental Science, ee88) recommended that incineration plants be installed to treat wastes and single-use plastics be banned. Prof. Dr. Md. Ali Reza Faruk (forthcoming Dean, Facultyof Fisheries, ee88) concluded the session stressing the importance of transboundary and regional policy formulation and actions to reduce plastics pollution in the shared rivers like the Brahmaputra-Jamuna.

In the afternoon (3 pm), the second session was split into three groups and employed with ‘Policy Canvass’ tool to define the key issues that will aid towards relevant policies concerning plastics pollution in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River. The key issues, as detected during the policy canvass, were: poor waste management in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River regarding plastic pollution, lack of transboundary collaborations and regional actions regarding plastic pollution in the shared habitats and lack of public awareness.