Dredging at Karnaphuli River, where the Chittagong seaport is situated, is seriously hampered due to the presence of huge plastic materials, including plastic bottles and polythene bags, in the riverbed.

The ongoing capital dredging work is thus facing massive disruption, which the Chittagong port officials find as a threat to the navigation of large vessels.

Port officials are now maintaining a minimum depth requirement of the port’s main channel through maintenance dredging to keep it navigable.

Chittagong Port Authority’s chief hydrographer, Commander M Arifur Rahman, told DPC the cutter suction dredger failed to cut the wastes and mud in the Karnaphuli River bed because the layer of plastic materials was found in up to 2 to 7 m depth.

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