Ban vssels thru' Shela river to save Sundarbans

Environmentalists at a views-exchange meeting yesterday demanded that the government deploy the army to protect Mongla-Ghashiakhali channel and the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

They also urged the government to take necessary steps to stop plying of all commercial vessels through the Shela River to protect the channel and the Sundarbans.

The meeting, "Necessity of Mongla-Ghashiakhali Channel to Safeguard Sundarban", was organised by the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR) in the capital's Mukti Bhaban, said an NCPSRR press release.

The speakers said the unplanned Failahat sluice of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) coupled with several hundred illegal dams in governmental canals and shrimp farms were the main obstacles to protecting the river.

BWDB is yet to implement the inter-ministerial decision to remove the sluice, they said, adding that the local administration shows sheer negligence in removing the illegal dams and environmentally-harmful shrimp farms.

They said Bangladesh Water Transport Authority recently opened a portion of the channel for vessels after spending Tk 230 crore to dredge it but many spots were being quickly silted due to the sluice, dams and shrimp farms that obstruct water flow.

The channel may collapse any moment if  the situation continues, said the press release.

NCPSRR's Adviser Manzurul Ahsan Khan presided over the function where Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Prof Mir Tarique Ali, water resources expert M Inamul Hoque, Communist Party of Bangladesh leader Ruhin Hossain Prince, NCPSRR's General Secretary Ashis Kumar Dey, and Council to Protect Passengers Rights of Bangladesh President Tusar Rehman also spoke.