bdnews24.com :
Senior Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta is annoyed with the government agencies over the recent oil spill in the Sundarbans.
He says he is ‘shocked’ at the shipping ministry’s ‘indifference’ to the matter.
The incident could have easily been averted if the riverine route through the world’s largest mangrove forest was avoided, Sengupta said at a discussion Friday.
“Our national pride the Sundarbans is the habitat of many animals including the Royal Bengal Tiger. We have to be more careful.
“This crisis will take the form of a global environment disaster,” he warned.
An oil-tanker shipping 350,000 litres of furnace oil sank in Sundarbans’ Shela
River on Tuesday after being hit by a cargo vessel. Environmentalists and forest officials fear the oil spill from the disaster will wreak havoc on the Sundarbans ecology.
Tugboat Kandari-10 went to the accident spot on Thursday with 10,000 litres of oil spill dispersant.
But authorities have decided to initially use the locals’ help in mopping up the spilled oil with sponge and sacks, three days after the accident. State-owned Padma Oil is buying the oil collected by locals at Tk 30 per litre.
Sengupta compared the move with a “successful operation on a dead patient”, arguing only the navy could have prevented the oil spill with its experience.
He expressed frustration at the plying of commercial vessels through Sundarbans rivers.
“What happened there is not a matter of indifference, but failure,” Sengupta said.
Senior Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta is annoyed with the government agencies over the recent oil spill in the Sundarbans.
He says he is ‘shocked’ at the shipping ministry’s ‘indifference’ to the matter.
The incident could have easily been averted if the riverine route through the world’s largest mangrove forest was avoided, Sengupta said at a discussion Friday.
“Our national pride the Sundarbans is the habitat of many animals including the Royal Bengal Tiger. We have to be more careful.
“This crisis will take the form of a global environment disaster,” he warned.
An oil-tanker shipping 350,000 litres of furnace oil sank in Sundarbans’ Shela
River on Tuesday after being hit by a cargo vessel. Environmentalists and forest officials fear the oil spill from the disaster will wreak havoc on the Sundarbans ecology.
Tugboat Kandari-10 went to the accident spot on Thursday with 10,000 litres of oil spill dispersant.
But authorities have decided to initially use the locals’ help in mopping up the spilled oil with sponge and sacks, three days after the accident. State-owned Padma Oil is buying the oil collected by locals at Tk 30 per litre.
Sengupta compared the move with a “successful operation on a dead patient”, arguing only the navy could have prevented the oil spill with its experience.
He expressed frustration at the plying of commercial vessels through Sundarbans rivers.
“What happened there is not a matter of indifference, but failure,” Sengupta said.
