A virgin sandy sea beach has surfaced in the southern corner of the country and is awaiting tourists and visitors. The newly surfaced sandy beach, with an unspoilt pristine beauty, is around 15 km long and is located on a small island in the southern district of Bhola. This virgin beach is located between two prominent sea beaches in the country — Cox’s Bazaar and Kuakata. Local people call it the Tarua sea beach. It is to the south of Dhalchar, which emerged in the Bay of Bengal not very long ago.
The island is around 40 km away from Char-fashion, the southernmost upazila of the district. The area is around 80 km away from Patenga sea beach in Chittagong by sea.
Just two months ago, the people of Bhola did not know that such a beautiful beach had surfaced along the coast.
“I heard the name of Tarua sea beach recently. However, I am yet to visit the spot as it is located in a very remote area in the Bay of Bengal,” said Bhola deputy commissioner Khondaker Mostafizur Rahman.
The area is rather backward and the journey is risky, as one can reach the beach safely only in the winter months, from November to February, by engine boat, he pointed out. The journey to the spot is risky in the rest of the year, he added.
Rahman explained that the area is yet to be declared a tourist spot because of the risks associated with the journey. Engine boats with a bay-crossing certificate have permission to transport people from one island to another, he said. But most of the country boats plying in the area do not have bay- crossing certificates, he observed.
Maksudul Hasan Khan, chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), has also no knowledge about existence of any sea beach in Bhola district. “The district administration is yet to inform us about the surfacing of any sea beach in the district,” he told the Independent.
He, however, did not rule out the possibility of coming out of any new sea beach in the area in the course of changing river route and developing new islands.
Asked about the process of identifying a new sea beach, Hasan said the ministry of land will first mark down the area and conduct a survey. “If it is identified as a sea beach then it might be handed over to the Parjatan Corporation for developing facilities for the tourists.”
In February this year, a group of local journalists visited the island and discovered the sea beach. “It is still virtually untouched as hardly anyone knows about its existence,” said Nazrul Haque Anu, the editor of a local daily. Anu was born and brought up in Bhola but had not even heard of Tarua earlier. He organised a trip for local journalists after hearing the news.
“I used to visit Dhalchar over the last 20 years for business, but did not know that there was such a beautiful beach here even a couple of months ago,” said Mofizul Islam, a transport businessman of Char-fashion. There are several dozens of small and big islands in the area, but hardly any of these is blessed with such a long sea beach, he pointed out. “I often go to the area and it takes around two hours from the mainland by engine boat,” Islam explained. “If you go by speedboat the journey takes only half an hour from the mainland,” he added.
Mofizul Islam claimed that the local administration is not aware of the new sea beach or of other beautiful places in the area that foreign and local tourists can visit. He told this reporter that he imported a boat from the Netherlands to transport passengers from one island to another in the Bay of Bengal. It is very safe, with all sorts of life-saving equipment, he claimed. The boat can carry 32 passengers at a time. Though he has applied for registration, the government is yet to grant permission for plying the boat and has not given any valid reason, he alleged.
Nazrul Haque Anu said the beach could be an attractive tourist spot as it is very rich in natural beauty. “If it is declared a tourist spot, this sea beach would be one of the prominent sea beaches in the country here, after Cox’s Bazaar and Kuakata,” Anu stated. According to him, the new beach is almost as beautiful as Cox’s Bazaar and Kuakata. Like Kuakata, the sunrise and sunset can both can be seen from the sea beach.
Hundreds of migratory birds visit the sea beach and surrounding areas during winter. The beach is not submerged even during high tide at the time of monsoon. Half the island, however, is inundated during high tide at the time of monsoon. The mangrove forest behind the beach is an additional attraction for tourists.
-With The Independent input
