At Least 200 Hired Workers in Nearly 100 11 Engine and Country Boats Have Started a Campaign to Collect the Oil From Rivers and Channels

8/10/2019 At Least 200 Hired Workers in Nearly 100 11 Engine and Country Boats Have Started a Campaign to Collect the O…

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At least 200 hired workers in nearly 100 engine and country boats

have started a campaign to collect the oil from rivers and

channels”

Bangladesh launched an intensified manual campaign to clean up seepage following a huge oil spill in34,000 hectares at the Sunderbans that threatened the world’s largest mangrove forest.

The manual cleanup campaign came as authorities on India’s eastern coast are on alert with dditional

!irector of Sundarban Biosphere "eserve #radeep $%as sa%ing &'e are ta(ing all precautionar%

measures).

*fficials and witnesses said the forest department engaged nearl% +00 boats to collect the furnace oil

spilled from the tan(er which san( in the Shela river in the Sundarbans after being hit b% a cargo vesselon Tuesda%.

&t least 00 hired wor(ers in nearl% +00 engine and countr% boats have started a campaign to collect

the oil from rivers and channels,) a local resident told #TI over phone. &The wor(ers were loading the

boats with the oil the% were collecting manuall% using the traditional e-uipment and depositing those in

tan(s in nearb% ferr% terminals.)

&The oil collection will continue until further notice,) a forest official told a T$ channel from the

scene.

orest official mir /ossain howdhur% said the% were e1pected to reach a decision on the modus

operandi of the oil clean up b% later toda%.

!irector2eneral of nvironment !epartment 5ohammad Shah6ahan told the media that the% had sent

the specimen of the chemicals for anal%sis to their own laborator% and the testing facilities of the

Bangladesh 7niversit% of ngineering and Technolog% 8B7T9.

&But we are %et to get their reports and suggestions. So until now we cannot give permission for its use

in the Sundarbans,) he said.

The authorities earlier had as(ed local people to collect the furnace oil using fishing nets, sponges or

an% other manual means and sell it to the state2run #adma *il ompan%.

The seepage spread in the Shela and the #ashur rivers and over 0 canals which crisscross the

Sundarbans in the past four da%s while officials found four out of si1 chambers of the tan(er carr%ing

3:;,000 litres oil damaged

Seven members of the sun(en tan(er’s crew managed to swim ashore, but their captain 5o(hlesur

"ahman was missing till rida% evening.



The authorities have filed a lawsuit against the owners of both ships.

Bangladesh is %et to see( an% overseas assistance to remove the oil but Shipping 5inister Shah6ahan

<han on rida% told BB radio that a =ondon2based team officered its assistance for the cleanup.

*fficials said oil spill from the sun(en tan(er affected seven %oung saltwater crocodiles at <aram6al'ildlife "eproduction entre and the% were concerned about the fate of dolphins in the region it is

their natural abode.

The Sundarbans is the world largest mangrove forest, which covers >,000 s-uare (m in India and

Bangladesh, is also the habitat of famous "o%al Bengal Tigers.

Bangladesh oil spill 'threatens rare dolphins' - BBC

The Bangladeshi nav% has sent four ships to deal with an oil spill from a crashed tan(er that is

threatening a rare dolphin sanctuar%.

The tan(er, believed to be carr%ing 3:0,000 litres 8?:,000 gallons9 of oil, and another vessel collided

earl% on Tuesda% in the Sundarbans region.

orestr% officials said the spill happened in a sanctuar% for dolphins including the rare Irrawadd%

species.

The government has lodged a legal case against the owners of the two vessels.

*fficials told the BB the oil had spread along a 40(m 8: mile9 section of the Sela river.

The tan(er was reportedl% on its wa% to deliver the oil to a power plant in opalgan6 when it was struc(

b% another vessel.

It is not clear how much oil spilled out of the vessel, but some officials were -uoted as sa%ing all

3:0,000 litres might have gone into the water.

Two nav% ships are alread% at the scene, and two others are on their wa%.

The% are carr%ing chemicals to tr% to separate the oil from the water.

But Bangladeshi officials sa% the% have little e1perience of dealing with such problems.

The Sunderbans, a 7nesco world heritage site, is a vast river delta on the northern shore of the Ba% of

Bengal.



Its mangroves and rivers are home to a vast arra% of plant and animal life, much of it uni-ue to the

region.

The government declared areas in the southern Sunderbans to be a dolphin sanctuar% in 0++, after

research suggested some >,000 Irrawadd% dolphins lived in the area.

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At Least 200 Hired Workers in Nearly 100 11 Engine and Country Boats Have Started a Campaign to Collect the Oil From Rivers and Channels