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Cox's Bazar beach littered with trash

Environment in jeopardy; cleaning efforts hardly seen


OUR CORRESPONDENT | August 16, 2024 00:00:00


Trash including plastic bottles, straw, packets, glass bottles and polythene was pictured lying in heaps at Labani Point of the sandy beach of Cox's Bazar — FE Photo

COX'S BAZAR, Aug 14: Parts of Cox's Bazar sea beach are strewn with litters endangering environment in the top-most tourist spot of Bangladesh.

A huge amount of garbage is seen floating in the coastal water at different points of the shore.

Due to the trashes lying in a heap, the sandy beach and its surrounding areas get polluted and sterile.

During a visit on Wednesday (August 14) afternoon, this correspondent saw waste washing ashore from the sea during high tide.

Litters including plastic bottles, straws, snack packets, glass bottles, polythene, plastic ropes, pieces of wood and bamboo were lying scattered at Labani, Sugandha, Kolatali, Kavita Chatwar, Shaibaal and Diabetes points of the sandy beach.

Due to the waste lying here and there, walking of tourists is disturbed, and it becomes a cause of annoyance for them. As of Wednesday morning, trashes were in place at different parts of the beach.

The cleaning staff of the Beach Management Committee was not seen to take initiative to remove the garbage.

Zillur Rahman, a tourist visiting the beach, said, "The waste has ruined the environment of the beach. It is very strange to see dirt on the sandy shore. Those concerned should remove the waste as soon as possible."

Zainal Abedin Tipu, worker of Sea Safe Life Guard, said, "The litters float in the tide water at noon at a stretch ranging from Kolatali to Diabetes point. But no activity was seen till 4pm in cleaning the waste."

Tourists said it is difficult to walk due to the waste lying in hips on the shore. Alongside the loss of beauty of the beach, stinking ordour spreads around so they demanded that the waste be removed as soon as possible.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Cox's Bazar Ataul Gani Osmani said the garbage is being removed. Cleaning workers are on duty in those areas from evening. Hopefully by Wednesday morning the dirt on the beach will be cleared.

Earlier, in March 2023, similar waste washed up on the beach for several consecutive days.

At that time, oceanographer Syed Mahmud Belal Haider, former director general of Bangladesh Ocean Research Institute (BORI), said based on the type of sea surface including low pressure in the sea, wind current, water circulation (ED), speed of sea water flow in certain places of the sea coast, floating plastics and other waste have accumulated.

During the ebb, the surface water of the sea swells to a great extent and due to rotation, the floating debris of the sea accumulates and floats on the beach.

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