Saint Martin's -- an island floating on vulnerability
Friday, 5 February 2010
Mohiuddin Babar
PROMPTED by the footprints of increasing number of tourism enthusiastic people visiting Saint Martin's Island, last week I took my family there. After an overnight halt at Teknaf, we boarded a vessel bound for Saint Martin's Island, situated about forty kilometres in the Bay of Bengal. As the vessel cruised through the quiet Naf river and then the Bay of Bengal waters, we were buoyant with excitement to reach the much-talked-about island.
In the recent years, this island has been gaining substantial popularity as a favourite holiday destination for many. Quite an appreciable logistics development have come up to ferry people to this island from Teknaf and that is why an increasing number of people are visiting it, particularly during October to March.
Saint Martin's Island is indeed beautiful. It commands a spectacular view with the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal gently washing its circular shore, mostly decked with corals. However, on reaching the island our excitement waned seeing the bulk of people, hundreds of rickshaw vans lined up, irregular rows of thatched or makeshift eateries, scores of posters and banners hovering overhead and so forth. Indeed, it was a view of pollution that did not match our conceived thought of a tranquil and beautiful place that we were destined for.
The original name of Saint Martin's Island is Narikel Jinjira, meaning coconut garden. Once upon a time it was dotted with tens of thousands of coconut trees but most of them have been felled to make room for the construction of residential cottages or hotels for the tourists.
The island has a population of about seven thousand, a big segment of which are migrants from Cox's Bazar, Teknaf and other areas of the country who have temporarily settled there to do business like restaurants, hotels and grocery shops. We even met a person who came from as far as Rangpur to open up a restaurant.
There has been a massive but most irregular growth of cottages or hotels on the island. With no good planning and no trace of aesthetic thinking, these accommodations seem to have been built overnight simply to meet the dramatic influx of tourists. About three thousand people arrive there every day during October to March, most of whom stay back for a short sojourn.
There has been a drastic shift in terms of people's occupation in the island. Before it became a tourism hot spot, people of the island engaged themselves in fishing and paddy cultivation. While many have opted to abandon the risk-oriented deep sea fishing and take up shop-keeping or hotel attendant's jobs, many cultivators have been idled due to the construction of innumerable hotels, cottages and restaurants that have eaten up the cultivable land.
The main treasure of the island is the extent of corals. One can easily watch the sporadic sale of conches and corals all across the island. According to some reports, the island has already lost 25 per cent of the corals and if this trend goes on, it will be a coral-denuded island within the next decade.
Much of the maritime species in the island has also been lost. According to an octogenarian in the island, once upon a time the sandy beach around the island used to be swarmed with sea turtles. We could not however notice a single turtle during our walk along the beach.
A promenade along the sandy beach on the island or over the corals can also be thought-provoking for any one aware of climate change impacts. As a lot of coconut groves, which once embroidered the island have now been brought down to accommodate construction of so-called sea-view hotels or cottages, much of the island could be devoured due to sea level rise.
Waste disposal is becoming another great threat to the island. Imagine, if every one of three thousand tourist is using a disposable pet bottle of water and throwing it away after use, where would these go? There is no organised waste collection or disposal system.
In all candour, the much-talked-about Saint Martin's Island is slowly sinking into an ecological collapse and once again, it is the human activity that is causing the alarm. The government and concerned authorities are learnt to have taken some plans but no actions are visible yet. Flow of tourist into the island must be controlled, the construction of motels or hotels or restaurants or other facilities must be governed by appropriate aesthetic considerations and strict vigilance must be in place against exploitation of the rare biodiversity riches including the corals. Saint Martin's Island, better be called Narikel Jinjira, must be allowed to survive with its legendary beauty, tranquility and biodiversity treasures. It is already floating on vulnerability and let it not be sunk due to overload of our follies.
The author is a free lancer and can be reached at babar.mohi@gmail.com
PROMPTED by the footprints of increasing number of tourism enthusiastic people visiting Saint Martin's Island, last week I took my family there. After an overnight halt at Teknaf, we boarded a vessel bound for Saint Martin's Island, situated about forty kilometres in the Bay of Bengal. As the vessel cruised through the quiet Naf river and then the Bay of Bengal waters, we were buoyant with excitement to reach the much-talked-about island.
In the recent years, this island has been gaining substantial popularity as a favourite holiday destination for many. Quite an appreciable logistics development have come up to ferry people to this island from Teknaf and that is why an increasing number of people are visiting it, particularly during October to March.
Saint Martin's Island is indeed beautiful. It commands a spectacular view with the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal gently washing its circular shore, mostly decked with corals. However, on reaching the island our excitement waned seeing the bulk of people, hundreds of rickshaw vans lined up, irregular rows of thatched or makeshift eateries, scores of posters and banners hovering overhead and so forth. Indeed, it was a view of pollution that did not match our conceived thought of a tranquil and beautiful place that we were destined for.
The original name of Saint Martin's Island is Narikel Jinjira, meaning coconut garden. Once upon a time it was dotted with tens of thousands of coconut trees but most of them have been felled to make room for the construction of residential cottages or hotels for the tourists.
The island has a population of about seven thousand, a big segment of which are migrants from Cox's Bazar, Teknaf and other areas of the country who have temporarily settled there to do business like restaurants, hotels and grocery shops. We even met a person who came from as far as Rangpur to open up a restaurant.
There has been a massive but most irregular growth of cottages or hotels on the island. With no good planning and no trace of aesthetic thinking, these accommodations seem to have been built overnight simply to meet the dramatic influx of tourists. About three thousand people arrive there every day during October to March, most of whom stay back for a short sojourn.
There has been a drastic shift in terms of people's occupation in the island. Before it became a tourism hot spot, people of the island engaged themselves in fishing and paddy cultivation. While many have opted to abandon the risk-oriented deep sea fishing and take up shop-keeping or hotel attendant's jobs, many cultivators have been idled due to the construction of innumerable hotels, cottages and restaurants that have eaten up the cultivable land.
The main treasure of the island is the extent of corals. One can easily watch the sporadic sale of conches and corals all across the island. According to some reports, the island has already lost 25 per cent of the corals and if this trend goes on, it will be a coral-denuded island within the next decade.
Much of the maritime species in the island has also been lost. According to an octogenarian in the island, once upon a time the sandy beach around the island used to be swarmed with sea turtles. We could not however notice a single turtle during our walk along the beach.
A promenade along the sandy beach on the island or over the corals can also be thought-provoking for any one aware of climate change impacts. As a lot of coconut groves, which once embroidered the island have now been brought down to accommodate construction of so-called sea-view hotels or cottages, much of the island could be devoured due to sea level rise.
Waste disposal is becoming another great threat to the island. Imagine, if every one of three thousand tourist is using a disposable pet bottle of water and throwing it away after use, where would these go? There is no organised waste collection or disposal system.
In all candour, the much-talked-about Saint Martin's Island is slowly sinking into an ecological collapse and once again, it is the human activity that is causing the alarm. The government and concerned authorities are learnt to have taken some plans but no actions are visible yet. Flow of tourist into the island must be controlled, the construction of motels or hotels or restaurants or other facilities must be governed by appropriate aesthetic considerations and strict vigilance must be in place against exploitation of the rare biodiversity riches including the corals. Saint Martin's Island, better be called Narikel Jinjira, must be allowed to survive with its legendary beauty, tranquility and biodiversity treasures. It is already floating on vulnerability and let it not be sunk due to overload of our follies.
The author is a free lancer and can be reached at babar.mohi@gmail.com