A tourist spot ignored by govt

The 20 charlands in the 350-square kilometre island on the Meghna near the bay of Bengal are now green spots surrounded by sea, presenting a rare beauty not seen in any other southern region of the country.

The charlands were brought under afforestation by the Forest Department about a decade ago. Animals were released.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

There are great prospects to build tourists spots in the area. But its 70,000 islanders are poor, struggling for existence.

The island is protected by embankments, saving it from tidal surge.

Though ignored by the government a tourist spot has been created under a private initiative. One Baschu Chowdhry has developed a farmhouse cum tourist resort on 161 acres of land in planned way.

Spotted deer, several hundred cows in a dairy farm, fishes in several ponds, gardens and orchards and rows of coconut trees there will attract anybody's attention. The resort has all modern facilities.

"I can develop a resort to attract foreign tourists with a little support from the government or the Porjoton Corporation", Baschu told this correspondent during a recent visit.

About six hundred years ago, Portuguese pirates used to take shelter in the island. When they left, people from Bhola, Laxmipur and Noakhali started settling there. But the area is still not overpopulated.