Dublar Char, an island in the Sundarbans, will get about 4.5 square kilometre of land as soil will be deposited in the island during the dredging of the outer bar of Pashur channel aiming to enhance the large ship handling capacity of Mongla port.
Dublar Char, whose land area is around 80 square kilometre now, will get around 4.5 square kilometre more if soil is deposited in the char in dredging the channel, said a senior official of the Shipping Ministry wishing not to be named.
Earlier, an 11-member inter-ministerial committee was formed under the project titled ‘Dredging at outer bar of Mongla Port Channel’ to analyse whether the dredged soil of the channel could be used for land reclamation or not, reports BSS.
Led by additional secretary of the Shipping Ministry Bhola Nath Day, the committee comprised of representatives of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry, the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, the Water Resources Ministry and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
The committee recommended the authorities concerned not to deposit the dredged soil in Bangabandhu Island, which could cause harm to ecosystem and biodiversity of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest.
The official said water-level is very high at Bangabandhu Island and that is why the island is not suitable for depositing soil.
Dublar Char, which is 10 kilometre away from Pashur channel, is suitable for filling the soil as the depth of the island’s southern part is around 1-2 metre, he said, adding that once the island gets the land, it would help create more employment opportunities for fishermen and the island would be a attractive tourism site.
The official said the additional land of Dublar Char will increase the sea beach area of the island.