S M Mizanur Rahman :The heavy downpour is washing away the sunken tankers’ oil spill from the canals, water bodies and rivers of Chittagong district. Earlier, the tankers’ oil was spreading to the adjacent areas — the Karnaphuli and Halda Rivers. On June 19, three tankers, each carrying around 25,000 litres of furnace oil for Dohazari Peaking Power Plant from the port city Chittagong, plunged into the canal when a bridge collapsed at Khitabchar of Boalkhali.”The heavy rainfall was a blessing for the flora and fauna as it washed away most of the oil spill that threatened to the environment,” Manzoorul Kibria, an Associate Professor of Zoology Department of Chittagong University told The New Nation on Sunday.Another Professor of the same department Muhammad Shah Alam said if it hadn’t rained heavily it would be a big disaster for the environment in Chittagong district.They said the rain saved the Halda River, the one and the only natural carp breeding ground in Bangladesh and the Karnaphuli River. Soon after the accident the oil slick quickly spread to vast areas due to tides and covered all around the spot, they said, adding even the oil entered the nearby vegetable gardens, crop fields and water bodies. Both the experts came down heavily on the government as it failed to salvage the tank wagons even eight days after they sank into a canal following a collapse of a railway bridge at Boalkhali in Chittagong.”Such accident didn’t take place in the country for the first time. Such deadly incident took place inside the East Zone of Sundarbans when a tanker carrying some 3.57 lakh liters of furnace oil sank in the Shela River at Joymonigol in December last year,” Professor Shah Alam said. He said in both cases the government strategy was not remarkable that how and in what way the oil spill can be collected or removed using modern technology.”We are surprised as the government doesn’t have headache to fight against such disaster in the future. Even the government does not feel it would need any other equipment or expertise to fight such disaster. Now the villagers and day labourers are collecting oil from the canal and other water bodies,” Professor Shah Alam said. Manzoorul Kibria said the government does not have any headache about the health risk of the villagers who are now collecting the oil. “The villagers and the ordinary workers engaged in collecting oil are likely to be affected by the oil related diseases. And their vital organs will be affected as they are inhaling the toxic fume while getting themselves soaked in the oil for a long time,” he said.Meanwhile, the railway authorities pulled out one wagon oil tank out three. “We have pulled out one wagon oil tank on Saturday. The railway authorities are trying to pull out two other wagons,” Abul Kalam Azad, Railway Secretary told The New Nation on Sunday. The salvage operation will be ended within five days, he added. A private firm, Mainuddin Salvage, joined the rescue operation on Saturday, said railway officials. Later, oil spill from the wagons spread in the Karnaphuli through the canal, threatening the ecosystem in and around the river. On Wednesday, more oil gushed out of the wagons when the authorities tried to lift them out.The railway secretary said there was no fresh spillage of oil from the sunken wagons as the cracks on them had been sealed by Thursday evening.It may be mentioned that on July 9, 2014, a freight train, carrying furnace oil derailed at Sitakunda in the district and spilled about 21,255 gallons of oil. On July 30, 2013, another freight train, with six tank wagons of furnace oil derailed at Boalkhali in the district and about one lakh litre of furnace oil got discharged into the River Karnaphuli.
