A towering ‘plastic monster’ has appeared on the sandy dunes of Cox’s Bazar, standing like a silent warning against human negligence.
From afar, it looks like a creature tearing through the earth, but, up close, it reveals a disturbing truth — a sculpture built entirely from discarded plastic that reflects the growing threat of pollution.
The giant figure stands with its chest ripped open, spilling plastic waste across the sand as if tearing the Earth in two.
The message is clear; the ocean and the natural world are suffocating under the weight of human irresponsibility. The roar of waves is joined by an unspoken plea — Save me, and you save yourself.
The sculpture, made from abandoned plastic waste, has been created by Bidyanondo Foundation and the Cox’s Bazar district administration as part of a three-month exhibition and awareness campaign.
It is now on display on the breathtaking dunes, following its inauguration by Deputy Commissioner Md A Mannan.
Additional Deputy Magistrate Mohammad Shahidul Alam, Bidyanondo governing body member Jamal Uddin and others were also present.
Standing on the dune is a massive, fleshless plastic creature, symbolising the wounds inflicted on nature and the broken state of the planet.
Though frightening at first glance, it becomes clear upon closer inspection that the figure speaks for dying biodiversity, a silent cry against plastic pollution. At its centre, the sculpture features a globe split in half, dragged apart by the monster, with plastic bursting through its core like a suffocating force.
Deputy Commissioner Md A Mannan said the initiative would encourage people to reduce plastic use and raise awareness among tourists and locals to protect the dunes and coastline.
A team of artists from Dhaka University’s Fine Arts Faculty built the installation.
Sculptor Abir Karmakar said it is the world’s largest ‘ocean plastic monster’, made using nearly six tonnes of discarded plastic along with wood, nails and adhesives.
Muhammad Mubarak, a Bidyanondo volunteer, said the organisation collected around 80 tonnes of plastic from the beaches of Cox’s Bazar, Inani and Teknaf over the past four months. Part of that waste has been used to create the sculpture.
“We wanted people to see with their own eyes how much pressure the sea is under,” he said.
