‘Unplanned development behind erosion’

Recently major erosion is occurring in vast areas of Cox’s Bazar beach putting the establishment along the coast at risk. 

According to environmental scientists, unplanned development projects and climate change are the main reasons behind the erosions.

In this regard, scientists have emphasised formulating a sustainable plan through a long-term survey.

Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute (BORI) Director General Sayeed Mahmood Belal Haider said, “We have visited the beach area from Cox’s Bazar city to Teknaf with a team to find out why the beach is eroding in such a way.”

The research team found that the beach is not eroding in the areas having dunes or bushes of local plants such as Kea or Nishinda. Instead, sand and debris get trapped in the sea vines and raise sandbars. However, the beach is eroding in areas with high embankments.

The scientists came to the conclusion that the beach is disappearing into the sea due to the implementation of unplanned development projects that destroys the natural biological defence system.

Environmental scientist Dr Ansarul Karim said the destruction of sea creeper plants and shrubs by the beach is the major reason for this occurrence.

“The sea creepers and other plants act as a natural defence system against beach erosion by holding on to the sand. On the other hand, the embankments block the natural flow of the tidal wave and, as a result, the sand erodes during low tide,” he said.

Dr Karim apprehended that if more construction projects are adopted without a long-term study in this regard, the situation can further deteriorate.

Last week a low pressure over the northwest Bay of Bengal formed into a deep depression and caused huge tidal surges around the coastal areas. At least 15 homesteads on the Kolatoli seashore eroded into the sea along with the tamarisk trees along the beach due to the tidal surges.

Many public and private structures along the beach in the city are currently at risk of erosion.

Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) is trying to prevent sea erosion by installing geo tubes filled with sand on the beach, but so far it has not proven effective.

Kabir Bin Anwar, senior secretary of BWDB said a Tk 3,140 crore project to build a 12 km embankment is awaiting ECNEC’s approval. The embankment will be built from Dariyanagar Point on the beach in the city to Nuniyachhara via Nazirartek-Airport.

Environmental organisations, however, have voiced objections to this project. 

Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, Cox’s Bazar district branch president of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said the construction of all types of structures in the government-declared environment-threatening areas is prohibited, but influential people are illegally constructing one after another high-rise buildings without any regard to the law. And now nature is paying its due.

He said the land on the seashore of Cox’s Bazar city, where more than 500 hotels and residential buildings have been built, is a ‘flood plain’ or a low-lying land affected by floods.

The beach may disappear during the tide much like the one-kilometre-long marine drive from Kalatali to Bailey Hatchery due to sea erosion, he feared.

Dr Shah Newaz Chowdhury, associate professor of the marine science department of Chittagong University, blamed the collapse of natural protection for the recent erosion of the beach.

“Various types of vines and shrubs including seagrass used to grow on the sandy beaches of Cox’s Bazar, which protected the beach from erosion. But the creeper plants have died and the sandbars are gone because of the tourist traffic,” he said.

He further said, “The governments of the developed countries are very active in protecting the beaches and do not allow any kind of infrastructure construction on the beach.”

Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University’s Professor of Environment and Engineering Dr Ashraf Ali Siddiqui said unplanned structures have been constructed in Cox’s Bazar ignoring the geological features of the coastal land.

“There is a parallel marsh and beach between the sea and the mainland. During various natural disasters, including cyclones, the overflowing tides of the sea wash up on the beach sand and some of the water crosses the sandbar and accumulates in small watercourses like marshes or canals.” 

“This watercourse runs parallel to the beach and joins the sea at one end through a large channel. And as long as these geological features remain, the natural defence system remains largely intact,” he said.

“Tall trees should not be planted along the shore as they cause the sandbars to disappear. Winds that flow unimpeded hundreds of miles from the deep sea onto the beach are suddenly blocked by tall natural slopes such as thickets, causing downward pressure and erosion of the dunes,” he added.

Dr Ashraf stressed the sustainable conservation of Cox’s Bazar beach to build a natural defence system.