Locals engage in oil mopping with pots and pans

Local fishermen and villagers have begun mopping up oil from a spill caused by the Sundarbans tanker mishap with pots, pans and sacks riding on engine-driven boats on Shela River.

State-owned institution Padma Oil Company Limited contractors are buying it from them at a rate of Tk 30 per litre.

Padma Oil's contractor Abdullah Traders owner Rafiqul Islam Babul said they had acquired altogether 5,200 litres of oil on the first day.

The Sundarbans East Division Chandpai Range's Chandpai Station employee Abul Kalam Azad said, the oil mopping started from Friday morning under the supervision of the local administration and the forest division in accordance to an announcement made the previous day.

Assistant forest conservator Belayet Hossain said the mop-up is taking place from Jaimani to Andharmanik, a 15-km stretch along the Shela River.

He said, "Everybody stepped in spontaneously. Women and children from different families have come with pots and pans."

The entire exercise is being supervised by the forest division, BIWTA, coast guards, naval police, and the Mongla port authorities.

The forest keepers, with the help of fishermen, started sealing the entrances of canals with nets to stop the oil from spreading further.

'Southern Star 7', carrying over 350,000 litres of furnace oil, sank on Tuesday after being hit by another cargo vessel, MV Total.

The sunken tanker was recovered on Thursday, two days after the incident. But, by then, the oil had spilled across 34,000 hectares of the Sundarbans rivers and canals, said forest officials.

The spill could have catastrophic effects in the Sundarbans heritage. The environmental experts fear the incident may crucially hamper the diversity of life there, specially the Irrawaddy dolphins.

Authorities backpedalled on a decision to use chemicals (oil spill dispersant) to contain the oil due fears of endangering the ecology of the world's largest mangrove forest.

Tugboat Kandari 10 in-charge Abu Bakar Siddique said with clearance of Ministry of Environment and Forest it will start the spreading of oil spill dispersants to bring the pollution under control.

Kandari-10 arrived at the scene from Chittagong with 10,000 litres of the chemical. The initial decision to release the material was suspended due to objections by the forest division.

The shipping ministry's Additional Secretary, Rafiqul Islam, overseeing the operations, told reporters in Dhaka that the oil dispersant on Kandari-10 would dilute the oil on the water and raise the water’s oxygen level.

At a meeting on Thursday on how to tackle the crisis, authorities decided to take help of locals in mopping up using sponges and sacks.

Mongla Upazila's Chila Union Chairman Sheikh Shafiqul Islam Rasel said they had urged the locals to join the efforts.

Many turned up in the hope of making money, said Chila Union's ward member Mohammad Lutfor Rahman.

Padma Oil's contractor Babul said they had opened four purchase centres -- two at Joymoni, another at Katakhali and the other near the accident spot.

Until the evening, 26 barrels, each barrel containing 200 litres of oil, were purchased.

Joymoni resident Sheikh Rajjak said he had recruited three others and hired a motor-propelled boat to collect oil. He gathered four barrels.

One Hafizur Rahman Sumon has been assisting the locals in collecting and selling the spilled oil.

He said the locals, including women and children, collected oil from the river and canals using boats.

Babul said people were using rags and sacks to collect the oil as sponge was not available.

They were putting the oil in pits covered with polythene at the river banks before putting it in drums and taking them to purchase centres.

However, officials overseeing the operations could not confirm whether the mopping up posed any health hazards.

A 31-km stretch of the Shela and Pashur rivers are dolphin sanctuary. Dolphins are mostly seen near a breeding centre for the wildlife along the Pashur River.

However, Forest Ranger Abdur Rob said no dolphin had been seen there since Wednesday.

Sore mouth was spotted on seven young crocodiles at the Karamjal Wildlife Reproduction Centre on Thursday after the contaminated water entered the facility, he said.

A number of dead crabs were also spotted caught in the floating oil. Locals say the oil was also affecting ducks that regularly go to the river.

However, Assistant forest conservator Belayet Hossain said no dead fish had been spotted since Tuesday's accident.