Dhaka, Oct. 25 -- Tourism restrictions on Saint Martin's Island, Bangladesh's only coral island and an environmentally critical area, will be relaxed for four and a half months from Nov 1, allowing visitors to travel there until Mar 15, 2027, under specific rules.

The decisions were taken at an inter-ministerial meeting held by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Oct 12.

Sabrina Rahman, senior assistant secretary at the ministry, confirmed to bdnews24.com that final instructions for implementing the decisions were issued by the ministry's Environment-2 branch on Oct 25.

Under the instructions, authorised tourist vessels will continue operating from Nuniyachhara jetty in Cox's Bazar.

However, several restrictions ...