Ship breaking industries impacts on the local people and environment of coastal areas of Bangladesh Md. Juel Rana Kutub, Nishat Falgunee, Shahreen Muntaha Nawfee and Yasin Wahid Rabby Department of Geography and Environment, University of Dhaka. Corresponding Email: Abstract Coastal area of Bangladesh is one of the most ecologically productive areas and contains a rich biodiversity which includes several species which are endemic to this region. Much attention has been focused on ship breaking industries in the coastal areas because of the threat they pose to this thriving biological industry along with their other environmental impacts and the perilous working environment of the workers. The coastal environment of Sitakunda is severely contaminated by various processes related to ship-breaking i.e. the disposal of different toxic wastes into the sea water, deforestation by expanding ship breaking yard, changing landuse pattern and release of toxic substance into the soil. Moreover, the workers of this industry are exposed to extremely risky and toxic working environment which makes them vulnerable to both physical and psychological disorder as well as accidental deaths and injury. Still, the workers embrace these risk for very poor wages and most of the profits goes to the already reach businessmen. Despite various negativities, this industry has gained importance due to the increasing demand of raw material for re-rolling industries and employment opportunities for the people of the coastal areas. As this industry is indispensable due to its importance in the macro and micro economy of Bangladesh, a sustainable management approach should be taken to at least minimize the environmental and health impacts of ship breaking industries. The current paper aims to investigate the extent to which this industry is affecting the labors and the environment, despite the growing concern nationally and internationally and it used both primary and secondary data. Key Words: Ship breaking activities, Environmental impact, Health impact, Pollution, Safety of workers, Coastal management