Sand lifting leaves Parky Beach at risk
DoE asks CPA to take action
Department of Environment (DoE) sent a letter to Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) yesterday to take necessary steps to stop lifting of sand from the Parky Beach area of Anwara upazla in Chittagong.
DoE officials said they came to know that a stretch of around 120 acres of land at the estuary of Karnaphuli river has slumped down due to lifting of sand by Bashundhara Industrial Complex which has caused huge damage to the locality.
Contacted, CPA secretary Syed Farhad Uddin Ahmed said they sent notice to the company yesterday to remove their equipment from the project area.
Mentionable, Bangla daily newspaper Prothom Alo published a report on lifting of sand at Parky Beach area under the headline 'Parky Beach at Risk' yesterday.
According to the report, the sea beach has slumped down at least three to four feet in last two years which has caused death-risk to about 5,500 tamarisk trees. Due to removal of earth from beneath the trees, about 500 trees have already died.
Quoting a source in the forestry department, the Prothom Alo report says the age of the trees at risk are from eight to 18 years and height from 40 to 70-80 feet. To save coastal upazila Anwara from cyclone and surge of the sea these trees were planted in 1992 and 2002 on about 78 hectares land on the south bank of Karnaphuli river at its estuary with Bay of Bengal.
DoE sent the letter to CPA yesterday following the report published in the news paper.
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