Govt indifferent towards protection of Sundarbans: BNP

A BNP committee investigating the oil spill in the Shela river has alleged the government is indifferent towards the concern of foreign donors over the impact on the Sundarbans.

Bagerhat Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 Dec 2014, 06:04 PM
Updated : 22 Dec 2014, 06:45 PM

After a visit to the world’s largest mangrove forest, head of the committee M Hafizuddin Ahmed spoke to journalists in Bagerhat on Monday.

“Though foreign donor agencies are worried and are interested in protection of the Sundarbans, the government is indifferent (to it).”

“Rather, they (government) are taking one step after another to ruin the forest.”
'OT Southern Star 7', loaded with more than 350,000 litres of furnace oil, sank in the Shela River on Dec 9 after being hit by a cargo vessel. The oil spilled across a vast swathe of the Sundarbans.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia formed the seven-member committee on Dec 20.
Hafiz claimed that the capsized vessel was a sand-carrier and said: “It’s astonishing that dangerous fuel was being carried on such a vessel.”
“If the government had any interest in the Sundarbans, such incident would not have happened. The government’s lack of responsibility was earlier exposed when it had decided to establish a thermal power plant at Rampal near the Sundarbans to please India,” he said.
Meanwhile, a United Nations inspection team, comprising local and foreign experts, has arrived at Mongla, on their way to the Sundarbans, to look into the impact of the oil spills on the biodiversity and environment there.