Maheshkhali Channel: LGED building jetty without BIWTA approval

Ignoring objections, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Cox's Bazar is constructing a jetty in and on the foreshore of the Maheshkhali Channel, the most important waterway in South Chattogram that flows into the Bay of Bengal.

The unauthorised structure, built without a proper feasibility study, has raised serious concerns over siltation that may eventually fill up the channel.

For the project, LGED felled thousands of mangrove trees along the channel's bank.

Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, adviser to the Ministry of Shipping and Labour, expressed dissatisfaction during a visit to Cox's Bazar on April 24, noting that the jetty was erected without approval from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and involved illegal tree felling.

Nayan Shil, deputy director (Port) of BIWTA, said the Maheshkhali Channel plays a critical role in draining water from South Chattogram to the Bay of Bengal and is now at risk of sedimentation due to LGED's unauthorised construction.

"We had sent them a letter to stop the work when it started. But the government body didn't pay heed to our objection," said Nayan, who was earlier posted in Cox's Bazar. He said a new letter is being prepared to halt the construction.

"If anyone wants to construct anything on a river, water channel or its foreshore, they must take approval from BIWTA. LGED didn't take our permission. They violated the rules," he said.

A recent visit to the site revealed ongoing piling work in the channel and foreshore, with thousands of mangrove trees already cut at Gorokghata area of Maheshkhali upazila.

Though LGED is building the jetty in the main channel, there is an older jetty about 300 metres inside the Gorokghata canal, connected to the channel and close to the new construction site.

Mohammad Boni Amin, upazila engineer of LGED in Maheshkhali, said the under-construction jetty is 700 metres long and 7.3 metres wide, with a 300-metre connecting road. The Tk 36.48 crore project began in April 2023.

"The foundation work has been completed. The old jetty is only 10 feet wide while ours is 24 feet. This project is for the public interest of the area," Boni Amin said.

The mangrove trees were planted during the 2003–04 fiscal year to form a natural coastal protection barrier. On July 31, 2023, the Coastal Afforestation Division, Chattogram, sent an objection letter to the LGED office in Cox's Bazar stating that prior approval from the environment ministry is mandatory for cutting such trees.

Mamun Khan, executive engineer of Cox's Bazar LGED, said they took permission from the Forest Department but not from BIWTA. He also claimed the jetty would not cause sedimentation in the channel.

The engineer could not confirm whether a feasibility study was conducted before starting the jetty's construction.