Acadlore takes over the publication of IJEI from 2025 Vol. 8, No. 5. The preceding volumes were published under a CC BY 4.0 license by the previous owner, and displayed here as agreed between Acadlore and the previous owner. ✯ : This issue/volume is not published by Acadlore.
Open AccessImpacts of Construction Activities on Aquatic Environment: A Case of the Kohelia River, Moheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar
View Full Article|
Download PDFAbstract:
The study was initiated focusing on the rising concerns of the fisher community and environmental activists that construction of 600×2 MW Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-fired power project and construction of 6.5km access road over the foreshore is filling the riverbed and impacting to the aquatic ecosystem of the Kohelia River. The study was carried out to identify the impact issues, to assess the project’s wastewater discharge quality, surface water quality, primary productivity status, and fishery status during dry season. From the primary drain, labor camp wastewater samples were collected, and overflow dredging water samples were taken from the immediate discharge point. Three sites in the Kohelia River had their surface water quality examined between January and March of 2022. Samples were collected by using statistical sampling techniques, stored, and transported to a facility for analysis. By evaluating numerous physicochemical and biological indicators, this monitoring attempts to shed light on the environmental circumstances surrounding the river. Standard procedures were adopted to conduct the Fish Catch Assessment survey to find out the status of fish diversity and catch composition of dry season. Study found that concentrations of COD and Fecal Coliform in labor camp wastewater were significantly higher than national standards. On the other hand, discharged overflow dredging water contained high load of turbidity and TSS that caused significant increase in turbidity and TSS levels of surface water. Compared to the baseline data (EIA 2013), noticeable decline in water level and increase in salinity level of surface water also were observed. Due to wastewater discharge, no variations were observed for other surface water quality parameters i.e. pH, temperature, DO, BOD, COD, Nitrate, Oil and grease, and Fecal Coliform. The study on biological characteristics of the Kohelia River found both abundance and species diversity of phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthos community recorded higher than baseline study (EIA 2013) period.
