The Water Development Board (WDB) has taken on a Taka 624 crore project for protecting Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach and the district town from erosion, official sources said on Monday.
“The board has already prepared a project styled ‘Project for Protecting Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach and the town from Erosion’ and submitted it to the head office for scrutinizing,” Md Nurul Islam, Executive Engineer of the WDB Cox’s Bazar, told BSS.
“We’re expecting that the project will be approved soon. The project is very time-befitting to save the beach as well as the Cox’s Bazar town from erosion,” he added.
The Bangladesh Air Force base, government motel, cricket stadium and office of the Tourist Police located along the beach face risks from erosion due to the effect of climate change and floods, Nurul Islam said, adding that the WDB has taken the project with an estimated cost of Taka 62,466,260,000 for ensuring sustainable development of Cox’s Bazar, a popular tourist destination.
The erosion from Nazirtek to Laboni Point has taken a severe turn recently and thousands of Jhaw trees have been uprooted, the executive engineer said, adding that many establishments, including police boxes, watch towers, makeshift shops and Parjaton motel have become vulnerable.
According to local people, the erosion at the six-kilometer sea beach from Nazirtek to Laboni Point has been aggravated during the last three years and it has created a number of secret canals and hidden holes, posing a serious threat to the visitors of Cox’s Bazar.
Recent research conducted by the Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute (BORI) has suggested taking a three-dimensional coordinated project for constructing an 80-kilometer sustainable and permanent protection wall from Nazirtek to Teknaf alongside the marine drive, said Nurul Islam.
The research has also suggested steps to stop the destruction of hills and the use of satellite and remote sensing technology for identifying landscape areas, small mountain springs and their flows in the area.
Raihan Uddin Ahmed, manager of Hotel Shaibal, owned by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, said that some 13 acres of land of the corporation out of 135 acres have already been lost to the sea due to erosion, a natural process accelerated by climate change.
“We have already requested the government to take immediate measures to save the public land as well as the establishments of the tourist town of the country,” he added.
-BSS
