Plastic waste pollution has taken a terrible shape in the beautiful Sundarbans. The rivers and land animals of Sundarbans are dying due to plastic and polythene pollution. Such information has emerged in a research report of Mahadi Hasan, a student of Masters in Environmental Science discipline of Khulna University, which was completed in 2022.
According to his report, microplastics (very small pieces of plastic) are found in the soil and water of the Sundarbans at an alarming rate. Plastic and polythene pose increasing threat to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife and plants. Sometimes monkeys eat polythene. Sushuk-dolphins cannot see well due to pollution. These marine animals also eat polythene, mistaking it for jellyfish. Even turtles are dying wrapped in polythene. Other aquatic animals are also ingesting tiny pieces of plastic. Falling polythene and plastic material on the root of the tree is causing damage.
However, the forest department says that several steps have been taken to keep the Sundarbans pollution-free. Efforts are also being made to ensure that no plastic waste is dumped into the river or the Sundarbans from Sundarban-bound boats, trawlers and tourist ships.
It is known that tourists and foresters leave polythene, chips, chanachur, biscuits and various food packets, water bottles, single-use plastic plates and cups in the Sundarbans. Plastic pollution is also high in forest areas where human traffic is high. However, tourists and foresters are not only causing pollution by going inside the Sundarbans, but also from the localities adjacent to the forest, they are washed away by the river water in the tides. From 80 villages adjacent to the forest, 52 rivers and canals carry single-use plastic plates and cups into the forest during high tide.
A recent study of Khulna University’s Department of Environmental Science has revealed a dire picture of plastic pollution in the Sundarbans. From 2020 to 2022, Mahadi Hasan, a master’s student, conducted a research under the supervision of the teachers of the University’s Environmental Science discipline in the coastal area. Under the scope of this research called ‘Special Distribution and Characterization of Microplastics in the Coastal Water and Sediment of the Bay of Bengal Coast, Bangladesh’, six places in the Sundarbans Water and soil are tested.
Mahadi Hasan said that there are two microplastics per liter of water and 734 microplastics per kilogram of soil.
Khulna University Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline Professor Nazmus Sadat said that the forest department should be more active in preventing pollution.
He said that plastic is always harmful to the environment. Threats to forest land and aquatic animals and plants are increasing due to plastic pollution. More research is needed on this.
Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarban West Forest Department. Abu Nasser Mohsin Hossain said that carrying plastic products inside the Sundarbans is prohibited. If someone takes plastic products, they bring them back with them. Strict vigilance is done in the areas where tourists or fishermen travel. Not only that, the jailers have been fined and recovered. As a result, Jele Bawalis now enter the forest with great caution.
Alamgir Hannan/FA/MS
#Sundarbans #animals #dying #plasticpolythene