Traditional Baut Festival Begins in Chalan Beel

The tradition-bound Baut festival, a traditional fish-hunting celebration, has begun in the Chalanbeel region, including Chatmohar of Pabna. Due to receding water levels, this year’s fish-catching event has started earlier than usual. The festival is currently taking place across various wetlands in the Chalanbeel region, including Ramer Bil, Khlishagari Bil, Dikshi Bil, Bilkuralia, and the Gumani and Chiknai rivers in Chatmohar Upazila. In the local dialect of the Chalanbeel region, this festival is known as the ‘Baut Utsab’.

Every week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, a specific wetland is designated for the Baut event. Hundreds of people from various upazilas arrive at the wetlands early in the morning using diverse vehicles, carrying various fishing equipment. Amid joyous shouts and cheers, they invoke the names of Allah and the Prophet and step into the chilly waters of the wetland. Hundreds of amateur fishers carry traditional polo (dome-shaped fishing traps) in their hands.

Fish are also caught using various types of nets. Participants ranging from children to older people join this fishing celebration. The Baut events take place in the Khlishagari and Afrar wetlands of Chatmohar Upazila.

Hundreds of people from Chatmohar, Bhangura, and surrounding upazilas descend into the wetlands. Participants stated that this fish-catching festival will continue for the next month. Amer Ali, an amateur fisher participating in the Baut, noted that varieties of native fish species, including boal, shol, rui, and catla, are found during this festival. Traditionally, baut takes place in the rivers and wetlands of the Chalanbeel region every year during the Bengali months of Kartik, Agragyan, and Poush. However, because water is drying up rapidly this year, the fishing festival has started early.

Meanwhile, the Baut festival is severely disrupting thewetland’ss biodiversity, resulting in the death of countless small fish. Chatmohar Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Md. Matin stated that the Baut festival has been ongoing for a long time, severely harming biodiversity in the wetlands. He emphasized the need to raise public awareness through both governmental and non-governmental initiatives.