Island Kutubdia

The Island, KUTUBDIA is famous for THE LIGHT - HOUSE. It contains all the mysteries of the creation. It is surrounded by the Bay Of Bengal. I am telling about The Divine Beauty Of A Land, Kutubdia. Though it is very small in size, It has the ability to lead all the huge land by its Natural Beauty. God decorated it with His own hands. The Sea Beatch Of it is very attractive and It is not less qualified than Cox's Bazr Sea Beatch. The scenery of Sun-set and Sun-rise are obviously Eye-catching for all the human beings. The way of producing Salt is unimaginative. I have a firm believe that, Kutubdia Sea Beatch has the only lackings of Advertisement and Media. Otherwise, It would be another attractive place for the Nature Lovers. As a representative of the land, I try my best to disclose its unique Beauty to the universe.

-->Kutubdia Upazila (cox's bazar district) with an area of 27 sq km which was 54 sq km., Distance of Thana/Upozila from Zila sadar by road 90 km, is bounded by the bay of bengal on the north, west and south, Kutubdia channel, Banshkhali, Chakaria and Maheshkhali Upazilas on the east. Administration Kutubdia thana was established in 1917 and was turned into an upazila in 1983. It consists of 6 union parishads, 9 mouzas and 29 villages. Archaeological heritage Marks of War of Liberation Memorial monument 1 (ghatkul). Population approximately 1,14,000; male 51.66%, female 48.34%; Muslim 91.27%, Hindu 8.65%, others 0.08%. Religious institutions Yusef Ali Miaji Masjid, Kalarma Masjid, Ek Hatia Fakirer Masjid, Maharaja Kazir Masjid, Tomb of Qutb Awliya. Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 23.85%; male 31.5%, female 16.2%. Educational institutions: college 1, government high school 1, non-government high school 7, madrasa 15, government primary school 32, non-government primary school 39. Old institutions: Kutubdia High School (1938), Durung High School (1948).

-->Cultural organizations Public library 1, press club 1, sporting club 1, co-operative society 1. Main occupations Agriculture 32.13%, fishing 4.67%, agricultural labourer 23.99%, wage labourer 5.76%, commerce 11.88%, service 3.94%, industries 2.2%, others 15.43%. Land use Cultivable land 8903.28 hectares, land for cultivation of salt 1416 hectares, fallow land 242.82 hectares.Land control The market value of the first grade arable land is Tk 9500 per 0.01 hectare.Main crops Paddy, potato, watermelon, ginger, tomato, bean, betel nut. Extinct and nearly extinct crop Kaun. Main fruits Mango, banana, papaya, plum, coconut. Farming Shrimp cultivation in 115 hectares. Communication facilities Roads: pucca 147 km, mud road 44 km. Traditional transport Horse carriage, bullock cart, palanquin. These means of transport are either extinct or nearly extinct. Manufactories Rice mill 2, salt mill 1, ice mill 1, saw mill 4. Cottage industries Welding 15, bamboo work 300, goldsmith 18, blacksmith 20, tailoring 200. Mineral resources Natural gas, sulphur. Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars 12. Notable bazars are Bara Ghop Bazar, Dhurung Bazar. Main exports Fish, salt. NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, Gana Swasthya Kendra, Prism Bangladesh, IFAD Unnayan Sahajogi Team. Health centres Upazila health complex 1, satellite clinic 4, family planning centre 6.Most Attractive Sea Beach and Light House.

To save Kutubdia island from river erosion

Bangladesh is one of the most populated countries in the world having 32% coastal area that is 47,211 square kilometres. According to the population census in 2001, some 35 million people live in the coastal area which is 28% of the total population. According to the geographic position and Biodiversity, it is to say that the coastal ecosystem is the most diversified and ever changing. It has a vibrant potentials as well as jeopardy and hazards. Through last couple of decades development activities of mankind, especially, the over exploitations and pollutions of the water resource and biodiversity have increased the risks of the disasters as a result of

climate changes. Especially, river erosion, flood, tidal waves, cyclones become ever related to these regions. Continuing river erosion and increasing birth rate on the other hand made the coast inhabitants vulnerable and homeless. According to some analysis, it is seen that the livelihood standard, average age, per capita land, access to education, health service, social security in the coastal areas etc are much less than those of mainland. As a result, the social and economic vulnerability is increasing with the natural calamities, especially, river erosion. River erosion and submerging of the coastal lands are the national phenomenon being one of the main natural disasters. Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services- CEGIS shows in a recent research that 0.1 million people become homeless every year in the country due to river erosion. In the last 34 years submerging of river side lands are 219286 acres in Jamuna, 69135 acres in Ganges and 95119 acres in Padma. To be concerned that, erosion in the Jamuna would cause 3408 acres of land, 543 localities, 3360 metres of embankment, 5160 metres of roads, 4 educational institutions, and 2 market place to be submerged by 2007. In the mean time, the Ganges would cause 1778 acres of lands, 136 acres of localities and 570 meters of roads while the Padma would cause 1600 acres of lands, 370 acres of localities, 3930 metres of roads, 9 educational institutions, 5 market places and 1 Union Council office to be submerged in the river by recent rate of erosion. Geography and Environmental Science

Department of the Jahangirnagar University presented a chart of the losses of river erosion between 1996 to 2000, that is as follows, Loss of life may not be happened due to erosion but it makes people undone. It causes a massive financial loss. Huge erosion is seen in the coastal islands such as Bhola, Sandwip, Hatya, Kutubdia etc. Coastal estuaries, especially, the basin of Kutubdia Channel, Hatya Channel, Sandwip Channel and Karnafulli filled with about 30868 cubic metres of tidal water from the Bay ofBengal and again carry down the fresh waters from 38896 km2 of oastal and mid areas of Bangladesh. The immense pressure of the downwards tide, current force and twirl, waves and tides, lack of trees on the riverbank causes erosion to the coastal islands every year. However, the highest rate of the erosion is on the Bhola mainland with some islands including Kutubdia. Government initiates for embankment construction and maintenance every year in association with the Water Development Board in order to protect the coastal erosion. It is true that, the fund allocation is much less than the need,moreover, there is lack of proper implementation for mobilization of this fund. In 2004, it is seen in Tojumuddin in Bhola that localities are being eroded and on the other hand, new embankment is being built very nearly. According to the local people this embankment would not sustain long and soon it would be submerged to the river. The suppliers never maintain the proper size and quantity while making sand bag for the protection of embankment, they usually report and claim bill for 1000 bags against only

100 bags provided. On the other hand, Water Development Board built 40 kilometres of embankment to protect Kutubdia from erosion, of which 24 kilometres have been damaged in the cyclone of 1991.In the re-tender of the embankment reconstruction, Rajakhali, Khudiar Tek and Tabaler Char were deducted from the list of protected area by the embankment. It brings the total area of the Kutubdia Island to only 36 square kilometres. Though the damaged length of the embankment is around 10.5 km but reconstruction is only going on for 0.42 km. Under this situation nothing could save Kutubdia in any disaster. The risk of submerging of Kutubdia is gradually increasing, but no protection measures are taken yet. Some marginal level of mangrove plantation and embankment construction have been so far done out of government initiatives. Mangroves are being destroyed gradually by the Shrimp culture and Salt fields. If this rate sustains, it will not take more than 45 to 50 years to erode completely.

Damaged dam threatens hybrid power plant in Kutubdia island

Big breaches in the seawater protection dam have threatened the existence of the country's lone 1000kw capacity wind and battery powered hybrid electricity plant in the island of Kutubdia, its chief executive said Saturday. Md. Fazlur Rahman, managing director of Pan Asia Power Services Ltd that operates the plant, said the dam protecting the wind turbines along the coast has been damaged badly in cyclones, raising fears for the long term prospect of the project.

"The Water Development Board (WDB) constructed the four kilometres dam decades ago. But now they don't bother about filling up the one-kilometre long breach washed away by cyclones in the last two years," he told reporters in Dhaka. He said the authorities have dumped some sand bags to protect the 50 wind turbines powering the plant, but they might give in to increasingly rough seawater. "We need a permanent solution to protect the hybrid plant, which is the lone source of electricity for Kutubdia's thousands of farmers," he said, urging the government to reconstruct the dam immediately.

"Please save it. It is the first, largest and successfully running renewable energy project in the country, providing power to some of the poorest people in the country," he said. Pan Asia Power Services started building the rare electricity plant over two acres of land in 2007 and finished the project in March 2008. In the past one year it has generated some 240 megawatt of power. The project cost more than Tk 11 million although installations of all materials, equipment and machinery were completed by local people."

Rahman said that it costs Tk 7-8 to generate one unit of electricity at the plant while the existing diesel-run plant in the island spends Tk 40 to generate similar amount of power. He said the project was commissioned ahead of the schedule and it was supposed to be taken over by the state-run Power Development Board (PDB) about nine months ago. But the PDB, which commissioned the project, is not showing any interest in its takeover.