Dublar Char to get 4.5 square km land after dredging Pashur channel

BSS
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. 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.
In 2017, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project involving Tk 712.50 crore aiming to dredge Pashur channel to increase the capacity of Mongla seaport.
Later, Hong Kong River Engineering Co Limited China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation JV (HKRE-CCECC JV) was awarded the work order for implementing the project.
The Shipping Ministry official said the Mongla port is currently underutilised because only vessels with drafts of 8.5 metres can reach the port. “Once the project is implemented, ships with drafts of 10.5 metres (34 feet) would be able to reach the seaport.”