Plying of heavy vessels thru� Sundarbans banned
UNB
The Forest Department has banned the plying of heavy vessels through the Sundarbans after 1 pm to avert accidents in the worlds largest mangrove forest, reports UNB from Bagerhat. An order in this regard has been sent to the officials concerned of the department on Monday, said Md Saidul Islam, district forest officer for Sundarbans East zone. They have started patrols in the forests Nandabala and Bogi area to ensure the compliance of the ban.
Saidul said earlier a ban was imposed on plying of vessels through the Sundarbans after evening but many vessels ply through the route defying the ban at night, leading to frequent accidents. Saidul added that the patrols stationed in Nandabala and Bogi, the two sides used for entering and departing Sundarbans, will make sure that vessels do not enter the Sundarbans after 1 pm. Vessels have been plying through the Sundarbans for the last four and a half years as an alternative route after the Indo-Bangla shipping protocol-listed Mongla-Ghoshiakhali channel was ridden with silt. Official sources said around 300 vessels ply through the Sundarbans route every month on average. Vessels often sink or get stuck in shoals while plying through the forest. Frequent vessel accidents have caused environmental harm to the Sundarbans. A furnace oil-laden tanker crashed on December 9 last year, while potassium fertilizer-laden MV Jabalee-Noor got stuck at a char in the Morabhola River on May 5, coal-laden MV Zia sank in the Pashur River.
