St. Martin's Island
Pinaki Roy's front page news report (Oct:27) details the epidemic growth of hotels and eateries in the pristine surroundings of nature. It has swiftly managed to despoil the natural landscape of the 3.34 square kilometer island; an attractive tourist spot. Laws are there, gazette notifications, declaration of the island as "Ecologically Critical Area" etc. came one after another, and correspondences between various government departments flow hither and thither. But action wise nothing corrective is happening; it's all volumes of writings in files and nothing positive in action! As stated in the report: "The present government is planning to introduce a guideline for building environment friendly structures on the island". Naturally, this will be the beginning of files and volumes of papers yet all over again! It was also mentioned in the report that: "a project to conserve the biodiversity, establish a marine park and develop ecotourism facilities on the island' was taken up". After spending Tk 13 (unlucky) crore over it, the project had come a cropper! The reality is clearly expressed in the last few lines of the news report, coming from the local Hotel Owners' Association. Quoting it as reported, it said. “Nobody told us about any approval or provided any guidelines for building structures in an "Ecologically Critical Area", which covers all of the island!” What and where was the shortcoming of this all paper and no action situation? It was the lack on the part of the authorities in creating and spreading awareness among the islanders and the stakeholders. All the good decisions and directives possibly remain buried in some entombed file somewhere in the various offices; possibly far away from the island itself! The net result is that the pristine St. Martin's Island is destined to become an ugly eyesore!
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