Prospect being wasted

Kattali Beach, a potential tourist spot in Chittagong city, which has earned popularity due to its serene beauty with a surrounding mangrove forest as a unique feature, remains unexplored as it has not seen a single touch of development from the authorities concerned in the last one decade. The same fate happens to many other tourist spots which can generate a huge amount of revenue, thanks to the government's consistent negligence. The photo was taken recently. Photo: Star

Chittagong is pretty popular among visitors for its unique combination of hills and beaches but many of those tourist hotspots still remain unexplored due to proper promotions and bad communication system. And Kattali Beach falls in the list too.
In the very first visit, Kattali Beach impresses visitors with its serene beauty, 2km long beach covered with grass, green fields on the east and mangrove forest on its north. Small canals, scores of fishing boats moored in shallow water while ships in the outer anchorage and the roaring waves enhance the beauty even more, opined many
visitors.
Unlike Patenga Beach, tourists can stroll along the whole Kattali Beach, devoid of errant vendors, said a visitor Imtiaz Hossain.
For the last one decade, without any touch of renovation Kattali Beach has managed to attract around 1,000 visitors per day and on weekends and holidays the number stands at around 10,000, making it an eligible potential tourist hub, thereby generating an opportunity for a good revenue source, said locals.
But the main obstacle is the communication system.

Visitors have to walk about 2,000 feet as the way leading to the beach is still low and there is neither any concrete road nor any car parking area. Therefore, tourists have to leave cars far away in the remote area with no police for security.
Morshed Akther Chowdhury, councillor of Sourth Kattali Ward-11 of Chittagong City Corporation, said, “We have filled some potholes and low areas in 2011 to ensure a smooth journey.” If the government takes initiatives to make a direct concrete road to the beach along with a parking facility, the beach would turn into a vital recreational site.
Situated in South Kattali behind Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Pahartali, and around 8km from Chittagong Port, Kattali Beach swiftly became popular ten years ago when a road linked the beach with nearby Sagarika area.
Bangladesh has a fine opportunity in tourism sector. But only because of negligence of the authorities concerned in developing communisations the potential spots remain untapped and finally fall prey to unplanned development and encroachment.