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The seashore of Cox's Bazar is renowned around the world as the longest unbroken sandy sea-beach in the globe. The place was named after the British Captain Hiram Cox (1760-99) - a British diplomat cum administrator who had served in Bengal and Burma during the 18th century CE. Apart from the sea-beach, the most popular district for tourists in the country has numerous attractions that include: Bimukti Bidarshan Bhabna Vihara, Lamar Para Buddhist Vihara, Rangkut Buddhist Monastery, Sri Ramkut Tirthadham and Rubber Garden of Ramu upazila; Bangabandhu Safari Park and Kakara Shah Omar Mazar (shrine) in Chakoria upazila; Mazar of Kutub Aulia and a Lighthouse on the island of Kutubdia; Himchhari Waterfall, Aggamedha Kyang Buddhist Monastery and Mahasingdogri Buddhist Temple in Cox's Bazar sadar upazila; Inani Sea-beach, Patabari Buddhist Vihara, and Kana Rajar Guha (cave) of Ukhia upazila; Adinath Temple and Sonadia Island in Maheshkhali upazila; and Kudum Guha (cave), Teknaf Sea-beach, Mathiner Koop (Well of Mathin), Shah Pori island, Naf River, Chheradia island, and the Saint Martin's Island under Teknaf upazila.
Apart from being the most popular tourist spot, the Cox's Bazar district also makes sizeable contribution to Bangladesh economy through its fisheries and salt outputs. According to a survey conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics last December, 17 per cent of local tourists numbering about 3 million visit Cox's Bazar each year. The sites that are ranked after Cox's Bazar in terms of popularity are: Patenga Sea-beach of Chattogram, Kuakata Sea-beach of Patuakhali, Srimangal of Moulvibazar, Sajek Valley of Rangamati, and the mangrove forest Sundarban in Khulna region.
But it is ironic that the most visited tourist spot of the country has been expanding in an unplanned manner over the previous decades. As a consequence, the tourists often term the town as dirty, costly, and mismanaged. Many tourists even opine that people are compelled to visit Cox's Bazar as there is no other similar seaside town in the country.
The coastal farmers of Cox's Bazar used to produce salt from sea-water even during the 18th century. The British started to invest in salt cultivation following the arrival of the East India Company after 1757 CE. They then established a salt traders' association here. Later, the company administrators declared the military garrison town of Cox's Bazar as a subdivision in 1879. At that time, the Cox's Bazar municipality was spread over an area of half a square mile and the population was about one thousand. The municipality was then run by a representative of Chittagong district administrator up to 1926. After the departure of the British, the Pakistani government converted the municipality into a town committee in 1959. Then following independence, the Bangladesh government abolished the town committee and upgraded Cox's Bazar town to a 'Pourashava' or municipality in 1972. Currently, the area of the municipality has increased to 263 square miles and its population stands at around 350 thousand. On the other hand, the district covers an area of 2,492 square kilometres with a population of about 2.5 million.
But sadly, Cox's Bazar is fast becoming a congested town of bricks and mortars. Alongside a rise in population numbers, unplanned construction of buildings has also been continuing unabated. At least 800 multi-storied buildings including over 500 residential hotels and guest-houses have been built on about 2 square kilometre area of Kalatoli beside the sea-beach during the past decade. Another 4,000 multi-storied buildings have been constructed in the municipal town over the past 30 years. Diggings on the pretext of development are going on non-stop and the town-dwellers are tired of recurrent traffic jams and water-logging. Currently, at least 30 thousand officials serving in over 150 non-governmental organizations including the UN and international agencies are residing in this coastal town for extending humanitarian services to over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees. Therefore, when about 4 hundred thousand tourists arrive in the town during weekends and holidays, the situation appears to slip out of control and the prices of essentials rise.
Elderly residents of Cox's Bazar lament that the natural beauty of the town as seen in the past is no more visible. The town has become polluted due to unplanned construction of buildings and structures as well as lack of proper municipal management cum services. The 5 kilometre long main road of the town was built in 1965-66 during the Pakistani era. But it has not been developed much after that. The Cox's Bazar Development Authority launched a project last year for widening of this road into four lanes and construction of drains on two sides, which is scheduled to be completed next December. Besides, the municipal authority is carrying out construction work for development and drainage of a 32 kilometre stretch on 20 sub-roads on both sides of the main road. This work is scheduled to be completed by June this year. But the sufferings of the townspeople have exacerbated due to piling up of muds as a result of diggings that hinder people's movement. According to the municipal authorities, the project for widening 38 kilometres of roads along with lamp posts and construction of about 70 kilometres of drains is being implemented at a cost of Taka 6 billion.
Despite its widespread popularity among the tourists, it is unfortunate that the 120 kilometre long sea-beach of Cox's Bazar does not have any arrangement or spots for safe bathing. Lack of planning is again cited here as a reason by the knowledgeable quarters. They opine that many deaths could have been avoided if a 'swimming zone' was built on a stretch of 500 metres at Laboni Point by deploying nets. It may be noted that as many as 122 tourists had died due to drowning over the past 17 years while attempting to bathe in the bay from the beach. There is also dearth of divers for carrying out rescue operations.
During the previous year, over 1.8 million metric tons of salt was produced in an area of 50 thousand acres in the coastal belt of Cox's Bazar, which almost met the country's domestic needs. Total demand for salt in the country currently stands at about 1.84 million metric tons. Around 500 thousand workers in the country including 44 thousand farmers in this district are engaged in salt farming and marketing. If salt can be produced by applying modern 'polythene technology' throughout the coastal belt, then it will be possible to even export salt after meeting the local demand.
'Shutki' or dried fish is processed in about 7 thousand locations at 18 surrounding villages of the municipality, which include Naziratek and Kutubdiapara. Dried fish worth Taka 3 billion are processed by over 70 thousand workers at these spots. Besides, over 98 thousand fishermen catch various species of sea-fish including Hilsa from the bay by riding 6 thousand trawlers or fishing-boats. A total of 1.5 million people are involved in catching, processing and marketing of fish from the bay. Besides, the betel leaf of Maheshkhali and the red betel-nut of Teknaf are renowned worldwide for their exquisite taste.
Cox's Bazar town was once agog with cultural activities in the past. The Shaheed Doulat ground of the district public library used to turn into a hub for cultural activists in the evenings. The whole area then reverberated with songs, dances and plays. But those scenes are now seldom visible. Although the number of cultural organizations has increased, their activities have diminished. The dance party of the Rakhaine community used to uphold the cultural heritage of this region during the bygone era. But that tradition is also on the path of extinction. The same can be said about games and sports. Different kinds of sports events including school and club-based cricket and football tournaments used to be held even 20 years ago, with the Bir Shreshtha Ruhul Amin Stadium serving as the main venue. But games and sports now occupy a limited space in the town despite an increase in the number of playing fields and stadiums.
The two renowned educational institutions in the town are the Cox's Bazar Government High School and the Government Girls' High School. Established in 1874, they have maintained their successful track-record even today. On the other hand, the Cox's Bazar Government College was established in 1962 and is now a thriving institute. There is also a modern school cum college run by the BIAM Foundation in the town. Although the number of educational institutions has risen over the years, the literacy rate in the district has not increased much. It now stands at about 40 per cent compared to 37.60 per cent a decade ago.
The 250-bed Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital is the prime healthcare provider for about 2.50 million inhabitants of the district. At present, the hospital boasts of 76 physicians, 10-bed ICU, 8-bed HDU, 4 separate corona units and a modern emergency unit. The hospital has now become almost self-sufficient. Apart from government funding, it has received support from the UNHCR, IOM, and ICRCS. The healthcare situation will further improve when the 500-bed hospital of Cox's Bazar Medical College is put into operation. The town also has one eye hospital and nine private hospitals.
The three famous dighis (large ponds or small lakes) of the town are Laldighi, Goldighi and Napitadighi. They were in a pitiable state and their waters unusable even in the recent past. The Cox's Bazar Development Authority has now renovated these ponds and made them quite attractive. The prestige of the town has also been boosted after the authority installed beautiful sculptures at five road junctions of the municipality. The authority has also taken the initiative to draw up a master-plan for land-use in the town, demarcation of zones for tourism, commerce, entertainment, industry, education and residence, construction of physical infrastructure around the sea-beach for attracting foreign tourists, and creation of additional opportunities for entertainment including setting up of a theme-park with Cineplex.
Moreover, the government is implementing 69 projects having outlays of hundreds of billions of taka in the district that would transform the status and face of the district within a few years. The projects include extension of railway track up to Cox's Bazar, expansion of Cox's Bazar Airport, and setting up of a deep seaport as well as a thermal power station at Matarbari. A holistic approach is now needed in the implementation of these plans and projects for gradual expansion and consolidation of the most popular tourist spot of the country.
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary and former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.