Oil Spill Kills Sunderbans: India should assist Immediately

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Oil from a Bangladeshi oil-tanker is seen on the Shela River in the Sundarbans in Mongla.Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Image

Containing the Sundarbans oil spill

Time for decisive action has arrived

WITH plant and animal life dying as the water hyacinth of Shela and Pashur rivers turn black with the oil spill, the only steps taken by authorities has been the raising of the sunken vessel. People of the locality have been advised by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to collect the furnace oil using fishing nets, sponges and any other “manual” means. We are appalled at the lack of movement on the issue of clean up operation which needs to commence immediately to preserve the mangrove forest and its ecological diversity. Going by what has been reported in the press the navy is supposed to spray a powder adhesive to increase the density of the oil which could then be swept up by fishing nets. That plan apparently has stalled as requisite permission is still pending with the Department of Environment (DoE).

While the government has formed two bodies to investigate the oil spillage and make damage assessment and the “negative” impact of spraying oil spill dispersant, every day's delay is allowing the oil spill to spread to another 10-15 km area. And it is not only flora and fauna that are dying. Thousands of people who make a living off the forests and waterways of the Sundarbans are witnessing an end of their livelihoods. It is imperative that the DoE waste no more time to check the powder adhesive compound's chemical composition and whether it conforms to all international safety standards before using it in the affected area.

Spread over 10,000 sq km (3,900 sq miles), the Sundarbans is a Uesco-listed World Heritage Site and home to hundreds of Bengal tigers. The delta comprises a network of rivers and canals straddling Bangladesh and India.

The three areas were declared dolphin sanctuaries in 2011 after studies found they are home to some 6,000 of the animals. Fishermen are banned from making catches there, but tankers and other boats are allowed to pass through.The accident occurred inside one of three sanctuaries set up for the dolphins, said Rubayat Mansur, Bangladesh head of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

Source: The Daily Star/The guardian