Bay waves uprooting jhau trees on Cox's Bazar shore

COX'S BAZAR, July 31: A few thousand jhau (tamarisk- scientific name Casuarina equisetifolia) trees along the Cox's Bazar sea coastline are disappearing into the Bay water getting splashed by strong tidal waves.
The destruction is prominently wrought by coastal erosion under the influence of heavy rainfall, low pressure and persistent full-moon tides.
During a visit on Wednesday (July 31) morning, from Labani beach point to Nazirartek, it was seen that rough sea waves were displacing the geo-textile bags and directly hitting the seashore scrub endangering existence of the jhau trees along with many public and private-owned structures.
Locals said that due to continuous rainfall, full-moon tides and low pressure, the height of the sea waves has increased, which are crashing on the shore and hitting the geo- textile bags loosening the jhau trees under soil.
Under this impact of soil softening, Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium and many other small and big structures in Baliadi area are facing existence threat.
Locals think that if a durable embankment is not built at this site very soon, much more damage is likely to happen.
Poet Niloy Rafiq said, "The continuous rainfall for a few days is a warning signal in the sea; so the height of the tidal waves has increased, due to which the sea shore is breaking and the trees are falling into the coastal water. Walking along beside the boundary wall of the Tourist Police, I saw numerous jhau trees lying down."
He added, "Every year such a situation occurs during the monsoon. However, such a large volume of damage has not been seen before. The Water Development Board is unable to protect the jhau trees even with the geo-textile bags dumped in the sea to prevent coastal erosion."
It is learnt, on instruction of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in 1972-73, more than 1.4 million jhau trees were planted on 585 hectares of land in the sand dunes of the beach. Many of the trees have already been destroyed by sea waves.
Divisional Forest Officer of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division Md Sarwar Alam said, "The sea is highly rough due to the impacts of climate change. As a result, pressure of tidal waves has caused collapse of trees in several places including Nazirartek, Diabetic Point, Kavita Chatwar, Shaibal Point and Laboni Point."
He said that about 200 big and 1,400 small jhau trees were uprooted by the Bayside soil erosion recently. Erecting retention walls and sustainable renovation work can prevent erosion further, he suggested.
Sub-divisional Engineer of Cox's Bazar Water Development Board Mithun Waddadar said, "We visited the spot and noticed 600 metres of soil erosion on the beach. Modern flood walls and blocks will soon be constructed in an area of 6km from Nazirertek to Laboni Point to prevent seashore erosion. Once the work is completed, the jhau groves will remain protected."

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