UNB, Bagerhat :
The Sundarbans now must wait until the next monsoon to have the oil slicks washed away as those still remained fused with plants on the Shela River banks following an oil tanker crash in the river on December 9 last, says an expert.
“If the soil slicks could be removed from plants using pipe water, it would have been a better option. As this is not possible, now we have to depend on the nature. Heavy rainfalls will wash away the slicks from the plants,” M Shah Alam Faraizi, chairman of the Botany Department at Bagerhat Govt PC College, told UNB.
He said, the oil spill disaster has severely affected the balance of the Sundarbans’ ecosystem. “It has posed a threat to aquatic creatures, biodiversity and plants in the mangrove forest.”
Over one and a half months into the disaster in the Shela River of the Sundarbans, the oil slicks remain fused with the plants on the river banks, demonstrating the prospect of a very unpleasant far-reaching impact on the ecosystem of the mangrove forest.
During a recent visit to the oil spill-affected area of the world’s largest mangrove forest, the UNB correspondent found ‘black spots’ of
oil slicks on the plants on both banks of the Shela River.
The Shela is a tidal river, which swells twice a day with tides, but the tidal water cannot wash away the oil slicks from the riverbank plants.
On December 9, a tanker carrying over 3.5 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in the river at Joymonigol under the East Zone of the Sundarbans, threatening the wildlife in the Unesco World Heritage site.
The oil had spilled over into 45 miles along the Shela River, a major sanctuary for aquatic animals in the Sundarbans. At least 20 canals and a major river, Pashur, are connected with the river.
After the oil spill, a 25-member team of the Joint UN-Govt Oil Spill Response Mission visited the affected areas of the Sundarbans’ river, a home to 350 Ganges River Dolphins and 6,000 Irrawady Dolphins.
On December 31 last, the team shared the preliminary findings of the joint team’s visit to Sundarbans at a press conference in the capital. The preliminary findings of the team say traffic through the valued and bio-diverse Sundarbans should be avoided.
The Sundarbans now must wait until the next monsoon to have the oil slicks washed away as those still remained fused with plants on the Shela River banks following an oil tanker crash in the river on December 9 last, says an expert.
“If the soil slicks could be removed from plants using pipe water, it would have been a better option. As this is not possible, now we have to depend on the nature. Heavy rainfalls will wash away the slicks from the plants,” M Shah Alam Faraizi, chairman of the Botany Department at Bagerhat Govt PC College, told UNB.
He said, the oil spill disaster has severely affected the balance of the Sundarbans’ ecosystem. “It has posed a threat to aquatic creatures, biodiversity and plants in the mangrove forest.”
Over one and a half months into the disaster in the Shela River of the Sundarbans, the oil slicks remain fused with the plants on the river banks, demonstrating the prospect of a very unpleasant far-reaching impact on the ecosystem of the mangrove forest.
During a recent visit to the oil spill-affected area of the world’s largest mangrove forest, the UNB correspondent found ‘black spots’ of
oil slicks on the plants on both banks of the Shela River.
The Shela is a tidal river, which swells twice a day with tides, but the tidal water cannot wash away the oil slicks from the riverbank plants.
On December 9, a tanker carrying over 3.5 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in the river at Joymonigol under the East Zone of the Sundarbans, threatening the wildlife in the Unesco World Heritage site.
The oil had spilled over into 45 miles along the Shela River, a major sanctuary for aquatic animals in the Sundarbans. At least 20 canals and a major river, Pashur, are connected with the river.
After the oil spill, a 25-member team of the Joint UN-Govt Oil Spill Response Mission visited the affected areas of the Sundarbans’ river, a home to 350 Ganges River Dolphins and 6,000 Irrawady Dolphins.
On December 31 last, the team shared the preliminary findings of the joint team’s visit to Sundarbans at a press conference in the capital. The preliminary findings of the team say traffic through the valued and bio-diverse Sundarbans should be avoided.
