The New Nation - Internet Edition

Our Correspondent, Kurigram

Cow-dung becomes a source of livelihood for the poor people in Kurigram including other eight upazilas in recent times.

About four hundred families in Nageswari, Ulipur, Rajarhat, Fulbaria and sadar upazilas of the district have engaged in making and selling cow-dung sticks.

They have been earning more money from this cultivation. Many families use the sticks as fuel for cooking in the area locally called "Gobor sticks" and use as fire-wood. Some people also use jute sticks, straw and dry leaves and some use natural gas or local biogas for cooking, sources concerned said.

The demand for cow-dung is increasing day by day in the rural areas of the district. A few years back trees were in abundance and hence firewood was in wider use as fuel in the district. But due to the indiscriminate felling of trees, firewood is not that much in use as fuel as a result the demand of cowdung has been increasing dy by day in the rural area of the district.

Sakhina Khatun (38), Beauty Begum (41) and Momena Begum (38) told the New Nation Correspondent that they had been maintaining their livelihood for many days on cowdung as firewood selling. Some one of them said there was nothing to do by this time instead of this. Momena sold the cow-duing sticks Tk 4 to 5 per as a whole fifty sticks at best.

Thus they earned Tk 800/- to 900 in a month. Now many of them have taken it as their occupation for a living. Many poor and distressed people fully depend on this profession which is better living considering its economic prospects.