Bangladesh begins oil clean-up after spill

Bangladeshi fishermen, using sponges and sacks, have
begun cleaning up a huge oil spill in a protected area that is
home to rare dolphins, after environmentalists warned of
an ecological “catastrophe”.
Thousands of litres of oil have spilled into the protected
Sundarbans mangrove area, home to rare Irrawaddy and
Ganges dolphins, since a tanker collided with another
vessel on Tuesday.
The tanker was believed to be carrying around 350-
thousand litres of furnace oil at the UNESCO World
Heritage site.
The government has sent a ship carrying oil dispersants to
the area. However, environmentalists say the chemicals
could harm the delicate ecology of the Sundarbans.
The tanker was believed to be carrying around 350-
thousand litres of furnace oil [AFP]
The head of the local port authority told reporters that
fishermen would use “sponges and sacks” to collect the
spilled oil, which has already spread over an 80-kilometre
area.
However, Amir Hosain, chief forest official of the
Sundarbans, admitted authorities were in the dark about
what to do for the best.
“This catastrophe is unprecedented in the Sundarbans and
we don’t know how to tackle this,” he told AFP news
agency. “We’re worried about its long-term impact,
because it happened in a fragile and sensitive mangrove
ecosystem.”
‘Damage already done’
Officials said the damage had already been done as the
slick had spread to a second river and a network of canals
in the Sundarbans.
Rubayat Mansur, Bangladesh head of the New York-
based Wildlife Conservation Society, said most of the oil
appeared to have already leaked out.
“I visited the sunken trawler this morning. Only few
hundred litres of oil remain inside, so almost all the oil has
spilled into the Sundarbans,” he said.
Mansur said oil dispersants were “not appropriate for the
mangrove ecosystem” and urged local villagers to help
collect the oil from nets that have been placed in the river
to contain its spread.
Bangladesh set up sanctuaries in the Sundarbans in 2011
after studies showed there were hundreds of endangered
river dolphins there.
Fishing is banned, but tankers and other boats are allowed
to pass through.