Marine vessels, domestic and foreign alike, are dumping waste and garbage in the Pashur river and along the Sundarbans’ coastline, violating norms.
On average more than 200 domestic and foreign commercial vessels anchor in the country’s second biggest seaport Mongla yearly. Wastes and contaminated oil are being dumped along the Sundarbans and in Pashur which may eventually trigger a massive catastrophe, warned environmental scientists.
Assistant Traffic Commissioner in the Licence Unit of the Port Authorities Md. Harunur Rashid said that there are 24 enlisted garbage cleaning companies but no garbage centre in the port so the vessels end up ditching the waste into the coastline water.
He also said, “This practice is contaminating the water and navigability of river is declining at the same time.”
Dumping waste and contaminated oil in the sea is also having a negative impact on the coastline trees and plant of the Sundarbans and fishes of the river, he added.
Pashur river water keeper Md. Nur Alam Sheikh said, “General rule for getting rid of waste is that vessels will unload garbages in a specific place and they must pay the port authorities at a certain rate. But there are no rules for that in Mongla port in spite of the fact that the 1973 regulation on waste dumping at the port has clear instructions.”
Sources say, two acres of land was preserved for Mongla port’s waste management which now falls under the export processing area.
Mongla Port’s Custom Vendor Association’s General Secretary M A Motaleb said, “Ship captains do not agree to dump waste on arrival, besides, shipping agent does not say anything getting it done. Therefore, there’s no obligation to unload waste in this port.”
“The captains who are willing to dump waste on arrival pay little money that does not cover the cleaners’ payment after expenses. The enlisted companies are frustrated because of this, plus they are not provided with any specific place for dumping waste,” Motaleb adds.
An environmental science professor at Khulna University Dr Abdullah Harun told Bangla Tribune, “Authorities could neither provide necessary infrastructure nor could they make the vessels follow the rules on waste dumping.”
Source in the Mongla Port Authority says, 5325 domestic and foreign ships anchored in the last 17 years meaning 200 plus vessels a year. Each ship is responsible for at least 10 to 15 tonnes of waste oil into the sea that is over 2000 tonnes of waste per year.
Although this has become a regular practice of violating environmental laws, there’s no precedent of legal steps as yet.