Staff Reporter :
The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads & Railways (NCPSRR) on Sunday urged the Ministry of Shipping to take necessary steps to stop plying of vessels by the Shela River through Sundarbans to protect the bio-diversity,
the flora and fauna. The green and civil rights body, which has been campaigning for long for an environmental friendly transport system, has demanded opening of alternative Mongla-Ghashiakhali Channel for plying of all kinds of commercial ships.
In a joint statement signed by National Committee Adviser Manzurul Ahsan Khan and its General Secretary Ashis Kumar Dey urged the Ministry of Shipping and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to protect the Sundarbans by taking initiatives to prevent further accident.
The statement said that unplanned construction of sluice gate by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and several hundred illegal dams in the canals and hundreds of shrimp farms have been the main barriers to the protection of the rivers.
The statement said, BWDB is yet to implement it. Besides, local administration is lethargic to evict illegal dams and environmentally harmful shrimp farms.
BIWTA has reopened part of the channel for vessel operation after a massive dredging that cost around Tk 300 crore. But, maintenance of navigability appears a major challenge because many points of the channel are being silted due to the sluice gate, dams and shrimp farms that obstruct water flow, they added.
The environmentalists said vessels are plying by the Shela River may bring environmental havoc any time. If such a situation continues, the Sundarbans will be destroyed with man made disasters in the days to come, they observed.
The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads & Railways (NCPSRR) on Sunday urged the Ministry of Shipping to take necessary steps to stop plying of vessels by the Shela River through Sundarbans to protect the bio-diversity,
the flora and fauna. The green and civil rights body, which has been campaigning for long for an environmental friendly transport system, has demanded opening of alternative Mongla-Ghashiakhali Channel for plying of all kinds of commercial ships.
In a joint statement signed by National Committee Adviser Manzurul Ahsan Khan and its General Secretary Ashis Kumar Dey urged the Ministry of Shipping and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to protect the Sundarbans by taking initiatives to prevent further accident.
The statement said that unplanned construction of sluice gate by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and several hundred illegal dams in the canals and hundreds of shrimp farms have been the main barriers to the protection of the rivers.
The statement said, BWDB is yet to implement it. Besides, local administration is lethargic to evict illegal dams and environmentally harmful shrimp farms.
BIWTA has reopened part of the channel for vessel operation after a massive dredging that cost around Tk 300 crore. But, maintenance of navigability appears a major challenge because many points of the channel are being silted due to the sluice gate, dams and shrimp farms that obstruct water flow, they added.
The environmentalists said vessels are plying by the Shela River may bring environmental havoc any time. If such a situation continues, the Sundarbans will be destroyed with man made disasters in the days to come, they observed.
