Chinmay Prasun Biswas:Water hyacinth is a very familiar aquatic plant to us. It is found in all wetlands, rivers, canals, ponds and ditches in Bangladesh but its origin is in South America. It can grow up to 1 meter above the water surface. This plant can reproduce very quickly. It produces large quantities of seeds that can germinate even after 30 years. Water hyacinth is the provincial flower of Sindh in southern Pakistan.
It has a good place in literature. Shelly, in Adonais, has written -----
Or they dead leaves; since her delight is flown,
For whom should she have waked the sullen year?
To Phoebus was not Hyacinth so dear -----
T S Eliot, in his famous poem The Waste Land, has written----
"You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
"They called me the hyacinth girl."
––Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden
In Bengali Kazi Nazrul Islam has written ---------
“ ধ্বংস করো এই কচুরিপানা! এরা লতা নয়, পরদেশি অসুরছানা
ইহাদের সবংশে করো করো নাশ, এদের দগ্ধ করে করো ছাই পাঁশ,
এরা জীবনের দুশমন, গলার ফাঁস, এরা দৈত্যের দাঁত, রাক্ষসের ডানা।
Bande Ali Mia has written ---
ব্যস্ত সড়কের পাশে অজস্র সাদা সাদা কচুরিপানা ফুল.
During my primary school days in mid-sixties, students of high school (established in 1918) of our village performed a song on sports day
চল আয় কচুরি নাশি, এই রাক্ষুসী যে বাংলাদেশের দিচ্ছে গলায় ফাঁসি।
All these observations are practically correct.
The history of the arrival of hyacinth in Bengal is interesting. It is believed that a Brazilian tourist, fascinated by the beauty of its orchid-like flowers, brought the plant to Bengal in the late 18th century. Gradually it grew so rapidly that by1920 almost every water body in Bengal was filled with it. River navigation became difficult and cultivation of wetland crops like paddy and jute became impossible, leading the economy of Bengal.to stagnation. Under such a situation, the government had to amend the Bengal Wetlands Act, the Bengal Municipality Act, the Bengal Local Government Act and the Bengal Local Village Government Act to reduce the aggressive expansion of hyacinth. In 1921, the Government of Bengal formed a committee headed by Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose to find out the ways to destroy hyacinth. The committee suggested framing of some laws to control the spread of hyacinth and opined that at that combined effort is the only way to destroy hyacinth.
In 1936, the Hyacinth Act was introduced prohibiting keeping hyacinth around houses and participating in the government-sponsored hyacinth cleaning campaign was declared as a civic duty. District magistrates of affected areas were ordered to conduct effective campaign to remove hyacinth with volunteers in their respective areas. Common people joined spontaneously. In the 1937 election, hyacinth-free Bengal was a commitment in election manifesto of all the parties. After winning the election, Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq launched a vigorous move against hyacinth. In 1939, Hyacinth Destruction Week was observed at the initiative of the Rural Organisation Department. Another important reason behind the success of the move against hyacinth was the excellent quality of rotted hyacinth as a fertiliser. Being inspired by this quality of hyacinth, landless farmers started collecting hyacinth and create floating agricultural land. Finally, by 1947, the water bodies of Bengal were freed from the hyacinth. But this success lasted short. Gradually hyacinth again captured the water bodies of Bengal as repetition of that old curse.
But that is not the end. Hyacinth was initially a curse but efforts are now being taken to get benefit from it environmentally and economically. Hyacinth has economic importance which includes its use as fertiliser and animal feed, protecting homesteads from waves by blocking it with bamboo. During the monsoon, when cattle feed becomes scarce in flood-affected areas, hyacinth is used as fodder. As hyacinth is decomposable, it can be easily used as organic fertiliser. The floating beds of hyacinth work as natural habitats for aquatic animals, particularly fish.
Applying modern technology, it is possible to produce fuel, dyes, paper, biochemical and other valuable chemical products from hyacinth. It helps purifying water by absorbing harmful chemicals from aquatic environment. As it provides shelter for many aquatic animals and protects biodiversity of aquatic ecosystem.
At present hyacinth is a big contribution to small and medium cottage industries in Bangladesh. Its dried stems are used to make baskets, furniture, handbags, ropes, flower vase, paper, mats and different other household items. These are environment-friendly and can be an effective alternative to plastic products. Many of these diverse products are now exported abroad. In other words, once an aquatic curse has now turned into an asset.
A report of News Bangla 24 informs that In Kalurpar area of Agailjhara Upazila, Barisal,, an organisation named Prokriti (Nature) is producing paper from hyacinth in its project named Biborton Handmade Paper Project. This paper is being exported abroad. Not only paper but different types of cards, notebooks and different ornaments are made from that paper. These products are exported to Italy, Germany and other countries around the world. This project started its handicraft work in 1993 with only 11/12 persons but at present nearly one hundred women (sixty are regular) are working. A foreign organisation took the initiative to empower marginalised women through training under this project. This project is producing different products using things that people throw away unused. Ahead of Christmas they have a lot of work pressure. Orders come from about 23 countries, including Italy, Germany, Canada, and Korea. We work according to their demands. They also take our creative works. Nearly 100 women (including 60 permanent) work there. Almost all the women working there are from remote areas. Many of them have sad events in their lives but now they have attained financial solvency. As reported, this project earns around Tk. 10 lakhs per month.
In his poem দূরের পাল্লা– Satyendranathh Dutta has written --
পাড়ময় ঝোপঝাড় জঙ্গল-জঞ্জাল
জলময় শৈবাল পান্নার টাঁকশাল।
Somehow or other, hyacinth has become টাঁকশাল for them.
Due to waterlogging, rain and flood, fields in Jhalakath remain submerged almost round the year. Agriculture department has provided beds made from banana tree rafts and water hyacinths. Applying just a little organic fertiliser, vegetables including red amaranth, jute mallow, okra, gourds, cauliflower, cabbage, radish and bitter gourd are being cultivated on these floating beds. So, hyacinth is no longer a bane but also boon.
-The writer is a former Commissioner of Taxes