<span style="color: #222222;">In Bangladesh, the High Court has allowed setting up of factories near the Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) of Sundarbans. In an order issued yesterday, the Court asked the government to provide environmental clearance to three companies for setting up LPG bottling plants in Mongla industrial area near the Sundarbans. The Court said that the number of industries that can be set up in the ECA will be decided by the government.</span><br />'' <br />'' An area of 10 kilometres within the world's largest mangrove forest at Sundarban was declared Ecologically critical area by the government in 1999 but many industries have come up in this area over a period of time.<br />'' <br />''<br />''Sundarban is the world's largest mangrove area spread over 10 thousand square kilometres of which 60 per cent falls in Bangladesh and 40 per cent in India. Like the Amazon forests, this area is known as lungs of Bangladesh. It is the habitat of globally endangered species including Royal Bengal Tiger, Ganges, Irawadi dolphins and estuarine crocodiles. Mangrove wetlands act as a barrier against cyclones and avoid coastal erosion.The UNESCO has declared three sanctuaries in the Sundarbans as World Heritage Site in 1997.<br />