In 2021, Cox’s Bazar was the most popular and well-known tourist destination in Bangladesh, attracting more than 400,000 visitors. According to reports, the beach is choked with mountains of garbage and marine waste. A lack of waste disposal in and around the beach leads to waste of all kinds being haphazardly disposed of at three popular locations along the shore. The floating of plastic bottles and polythene packets in seawater is often a complaint from tourists. There are small bins attached to each umbrella on the beach, but there is no garbage collection system. As a result, the umbrella owners end up dumping daily garbage near the beach at the end of the day. Every day, 120 tonnes of waste have been dumped by the municipal corporation on the banks of the River Bakkhali, resulting in serious pollution of the sea. According to a recent Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute study, fish and salt collected from the bay contain microplastics. Considering that Cox’s Bazar was previously designated as an ecologically critical zone, this sorry state of waste management and water pollution is disconcerting. The inadequate management of waste would eventually have a negative impact on the growth of the tourism industry, despite environmental concerns.
While the municipality is aware of the disorganized, haphazard disposal of garbage, no dump has yet been established. Furthermore, 600,000 people, half of whom are tourists, generate waste that cannot be handled by 300 waste collectors, 22 vans, and seven trucks. Environmental activists and youth organizations have long called on the authorities to address the pollution caused by disorganized waste disposal in the town. There has been no response to the demand, and no effective steps have been taken. To stop further pollution on the beach, a court ordered the authorities to tear down all illegal structures in 2011. Tourism will definitely be affected, but the ecological cost is even worse. Due to the scarcity of shells, selling shell ornaments and other decorative pieces isn’t as lucrative as it once was. Fishing people have also reported that water pollution along the shoreline has greatly affected their livelihoods.
It’s not just Cox’s Bazar that’s affected by coastal pollution. The whole Cox’s Barzar-Teknaf peninsula, St Martin’s Island, Sonadia, and Kuakata are there. The tourism ministry and the authorities in Cox’s Bazar must act now to stop pollution and protect marine resources because of the economic and ecological costs.
