Sifayet Ullah

Thirty-five hectares of mangrove forest in Eastern Char Dhurung village under Cox’s Bazar’s Kutubdia upazila have been turned into salt fields. Thousands of trees were felled in the process, at a cost of the area’s biodiversity and environmental balance.

The 1.5-kilometre-long Mariamnagar canal in Rangunia upazila is a hub for bamboo trade. Besides, locals use this canal -- which originates from the Karnaphuli river -- for household chores and farmers use it for irrigation.

Scrap vessel imports by Bangladesh hit a four-year low in 2022 as banks in the country have become reluctant to open letters of credit amid the ongoing US dollar shortage, according to industry people.

Seventy-year-old Akbar Ali was born on the bank of the Ichamati. In his childhood, many boats used to ply the river, while fishers could also make a living out of it.

A tea company is digging a lake in the middle of a reserve forest in Fatikchhari, Chattogram, in what environmentalists say is a crime that’s causing irreparable damage to the environment.

Bangladesh Water Development Board’s project to save the Karnaphuli has been in limbo as the water resources ministry is yet to review the estimated cost in line with the government’s cost containment policy.

Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) will implement a new housing project in the port city to fulfil the rising demand for homes amid a rapidly expanding urban population.

The Roads and Highway Department is planning to start a ferry service through the  Karnaphuli river between Boalkhali and the port city, making communication between the southern Chattogram and port city smoother.

With almost no obstructions, influential people are illegally lifting sand from the seabed along Chattogram’s Sitakunda coast, increasing the risk of coastline erosion, endangering surrounding croplands and depleting soil fertility of the area.

The number of date palm trees fell to 2,270 from 3,719 in Chattogram’s coastal areas in the last 10 years -- a decline of 39 percent, according to data obtained from the forest department.

The Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is going to set up a tourist zone in a 5km area of Karnaphuli riverbank in the Bakalia area of the port city, with an aim to develop Chattogram as a tourist city.

Around 21,000 smart driving licences are lying at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority’s (BRTA) Chattogram office, as the clients have not collected them, claimed officials.

The government enacted the Bangladesh Ship Recycling Act in 2018 and asked the authorities concerned to build a Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) within 3 years for the safe disposal of hazardous waste.

The coastal forest department of Chattogram has proposed to establish a special biodiversity area on 6,507 acres of forest land at Sitakunda’s Guliakhali area to save hundreds of species of wildlife and birds.

A pond near the Jan Ali Hat Railway Station in the port city’s Chandgaon area has been turned into a dumping zone. Consequently, it has also become a safe breeding zone for mosquitoes.

The elevated expressway project in Chattogram is being delayed as Bangladesh Railway has not yet allotted the required land for the project, resulting in city dwellers suffering.

The newly-elected Chattogram zilla parishad chairman has set up a brick-making factory right beside a protected forest in the district’s Fatikchhari upazila. The factory is operating without any clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE).

One of the main housing projects undertaken by the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) in 2017 was the Ananya Residential Area (Second Phase) project.

Due to illegal grabbing and inaction of the concerned authorities, Jolkodor canal in Chattogram’s Banskhali upazila has reduced to be a 30 feet wide stream from its previous width of 150 feet.

Despite the government’s priority programme to make the best use of every inch of available cultivable land, more than 15 thousand hectares of arable land in Chattogram remain uncultivated.