Guest Birds
The honourable Planning and Finance Minister while inaugurating the Plastic Goods Fair, made his observation towards the migratory birds terming them a menace for the country and suggested killing them on the plea that they make a mess by polluting wetlands, haors, crops etc. His comments were strongly criticised by the environmentalists and other related personalities of the country who termed the minister's remark very unfortunate. They are of the opinion that these birds contribute to the eco-system and help grow the fish in a healthy manner. They also said that taking the advantage of the minister's comments a section of greedy people will start hunting the migratory birds in a whole sale manner. It is generally seen that these guest birds stay here for a short period of time after which they fly back to their country of origin. They mostly do this due to change in the climatic conditions. As for these birds, even if they do some damage which is very insignificant they are always welcomed by the lovers of the nature. But the suggestion of their slaying as mentioned by the minister is discriminating. It is also important to mention that our veteran minister may have forgotten the fact that the dangerous Avian Flu, which was first detected in Romania and later on to some other European countries may exist in these birds. The World Health Organization has already cautioned many countries including Bangladesh to avoid physical contact from these birds. There is a likely hood that these birds may carry the dangerous virus of the flu. Therefore, the birds that are coming to Bangladesh may be vulnerable to the virus. Hence, consuming the meat of the birds might pose extremely hazardous to the people of Bangladesh. The minister should take care of these factors or otherwise take the advise of the health departments before making such comments.
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