**3. Importance of LMP control in Bangladesh**

Several scholars have argued that environmental quality conservation and prevention is the cry of the day [33]. During the last few centuries, with the growth of the population, the environment has been subject to harsh treatment by various human activities [33]. Around 1.8 metric tons (MT) of pesticides enter the BOB, and Bangladesh imports approximately 3.5 million tons of refined and crude oil from different countries, contributing to around 4–6 MT of oil pollution in the BOB [34]. According to World Casualty Statistics 2011, the largest five-ship scrapping countries in the world are India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, and Turkey, which recycle 97–98% of the world's tonnage [35]. Presently, Bangladesh is the first largest country for ship scrapping worldwide [36]. Each ship released more than 250 kg of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in the BOB, whereas 194 ships were dismantled in 2015 on the Bangladesh coast [37]. This toxic, hazardous waste threatens marine and coastal environments and public health. Marine microbial pollution also occurs due to the excess discharge of city garbage and industrial waste, which helps grow health hazard pathogenic bacteria in the marine environment [38, 39]. Bangladesh has no domestic waste treatment facilities; therefore, all townships and human effluents, directly and indirectly, fall into the river with the untreated condition and hence to the BOB through the estuary. All the coastal city areas carry household wastes and cause pathogenic microbial pollution and severe health hazard diseases for coastal residents [26]. Although a variety of sources of pollution affect the marine environment and the sources of LMP are the dominant threat in Bangladesh [34] so, it has become an urgent task to enact legislation to regulate marine resource exploitation and utilization as well as marine environmental protection regarding the control of LMP. Bangladesh has ratified most international conventions regarding marine pollution to protect the marine environment but has yet to initiate domestic laws to affect international commitments. Bangladesh has no domestic law regarding marine pollution control or prevention except 'Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act (TWMZA'). In the context of maintaining the ecological balance in the Bay of Bengal (BOB), the TWMZA) adopted in 1974, the only act regarding the marine sector in Bangladesh, but there were no provisions to control marine pollution. Section 8 of this Act implies that 'the government may take the initiative to make comprehensive rules regarding marine environmental pollution' [40]. As Bangladesh's final settlement of maritime boundary delimitation issues finished in 2014 with the ITLOS verdict, it is time to comply with the duty to protect the marine environment and adopt laws and regulations to control, reduce and prevent the sources of LMP in Bangladesh.

Globally, Marine environmental protection regarding the LMP threat is also an emerging issue as marine pollution has devastating impacts on the marine environment. Efficient management, comprehensive regulation, and regional cooperation are necessary to overcome the LMP threat [41]. Before 1954s, there was no convention to combat marine pollution; no emphasis was placed on the importance of LMP control [41]. At last, in the 1960s, the Paris Convention relating to LMP control [42] was negotiated, and other multilateral conventions, including

the Helsinki Convention, were adopted with the provisions of LMP control [41]. The [43] was the most important, updated, and comprehensive international agreement regarding previous marine environmental protection laws [44, 45], which provides a comprehensive framework for protecting and preserving the marine environment [43]. UNCLOS contains various sources of marine pollution, including LMP, and provides a framework for developing and conserving marine living resources [44, 46]. According to Chapter 17, Agenda 21, UNCLOS is a necessary tool for developing and utilizing international and regional agencies regarding ocean pollution prevention [47]. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development'1992 (UNCED) also considered the LOSC a significant contribution to marine Protection and International Law. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General states about the marine environmental Protection regarding international Law at the conference of UNCED'1992; The UNCLOS 'provides a model for the evaluation of International Law and its incorporation of several newly developed concepts and principles, such as the prevention of Transboundary pollution; assessment; habitat protection; and ecosystem considerations; an integrated approach to the various source of pollution; and contingency planning against pollution emergencies' [48]. As Article 207 and 213 of the UNCLOS provides, state shall prescribe and enforce legislation to reduce, prevent and control LMP [49], which is the only global treaty with special provisions for LMP. In advance, Montreal Guidelines were adopted with a comprehensive management framework to protect LMP, and the Global Program of Action (GPA), 1995 represents the significant development regarding global arrangements of LMP control [50].

According to Sir Edmund Hillary, 'Environmental problems are social problems. They begin with people as the cause and end with people as victims' [33]. As I mentioned, land-based pollution has been subject to harsh treatment by various human activities, and we have made this by our irrational and selfish conduct, so all these environmental problems and crises have to be analyzed and judged in the context of LMP control. Hence, the development and implementation of legislation are required to protect the marine environment regarding LMP control in Bangladesh. Ensuring good governance in the Sea, promoting economic growth, ensuring the security of maritime recourses from pollutants, improving the value of the maritime environment and ensuring their sustainability, adoption of a comprehensive Land-Based Marine Pollution Control Act (LMPCA) for Bangladesh is urgently needed with the implementation analysis of regional and international cooperation. LMPCA can be a safeguard for the sustainable Protection of the marine environment in Bangladesh.
