NEWS report in The New Nation on Thursday said a vessel carrying around 500 tons of chemical fertilizer has sunken in the Mor Bhola River of the Sundarbans bringing renewed threat to the sustenance of the world’s largest mangrove forest. The Sundarbans came under a similar threat in last December when an oil tanker with over 3.5 lakh liters of furnace oil sank in the Shela river severely disrupting the food chain of aquatic species over 70 km long waterways and canals running inside the forest. The danger was so big that international experts were flown in by UNESCO to assess the damage sand recommend recovery of the mangrove forest, a listed world heritage in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is slowly recovering when another disaster has hit it again.
It is noticeable that the salvaging of the fertilizer vessel is going slow even after two days as the spilling is spreading through the river system. Like on many previous occasions; the government has set up a committee this time to ascertain the responsibility, but we know such committees always end up midway. We believe, had there been rigorous legal action against perpetrators, new incidents would not have happened from reckless plying of commercial vessels through the protected forest zones. Some news report have pointed out that powerful persons having close link with the ruling party are regularly running commercial vessels through the Sundarbans with least care to the sensitivities of sounds and accidents on animals and fish stocks. They are not punished. We would like to say that the government can’t create a mangrove forest like the Sundarbans, so better it should protect it enforcing the standing order in place on commercial vessels. The fact is that the navigational channels in the region outside the Sundarbans have lost depth from siltage and pressure is mounting on the rivers running through the Sundarbans as a result of it. The only alternative is to carry out dredging of the old channels, but since anything may not come sooner, the forest system would remain vulnerable to man-made disasters.
Meanwhile, the government move to set up the Rampal Power Plant closer to the Sundarbans only shows how indifferent it is to the safety of the forest. Environmentalists have rejected the coal-fired and human rights organizations are opposing it for the catastrophe that it may wreck on the region. But the government is giving a deaf ear to the protest.
We must say the Sundarbans is our defender from natural calamities like storms and other disasters. Presence of rare animals like Royal Bengal Tigers and fish stocks are special treasures there. It provides livelihood to millions. But as we are striking the nature and destroying it, we can’t ignore the fact that the nature may strike back with all its cruelties. We would ask the authorities concerned to punish the people endangering the forest, while the best thing would be to save its from misuse powerful quarters under political shelters.
It is noticeable that the salvaging of the fertilizer vessel is going slow even after two days as the spilling is spreading through the river system. Like on many previous occasions; the government has set up a committee this time to ascertain the responsibility, but we know such committees always end up midway. We believe, had there been rigorous legal action against perpetrators, new incidents would not have happened from reckless plying of commercial vessels through the protected forest zones. Some news report have pointed out that powerful persons having close link with the ruling party are regularly running commercial vessels through the Sundarbans with least care to the sensitivities of sounds and accidents on animals and fish stocks. They are not punished. We would like to say that the government can’t create a mangrove forest like the Sundarbans, so better it should protect it enforcing the standing order in place on commercial vessels. The fact is that the navigational channels in the region outside the Sundarbans have lost depth from siltage and pressure is mounting on the rivers running through the Sundarbans as a result of it. The only alternative is to carry out dredging of the old channels, but since anything may not come sooner, the forest system would remain vulnerable to man-made disasters.
Meanwhile, the government move to set up the Rampal Power Plant closer to the Sundarbans only shows how indifferent it is to the safety of the forest. Environmentalists have rejected the coal-fired and human rights organizations are opposing it for the catastrophe that it may wreck on the region. But the government is giving a deaf ear to the protest.
We must say the Sundarbans is our defender from natural calamities like storms and other disasters. Presence of rare animals like Royal Bengal Tigers and fish stocks are special treasures there. It provides livelihood to millions. But as we are striking the nature and destroying it, we can’t ignore the fact that the nature may strike back with all its cruelties. We would ask the authorities concerned to punish the people endangering the forest, while the best thing would be to save its from misuse powerful quarters under political shelters.
