Sponge and sack to remove Sundarbans oil

Authorities plan to remove spilled furnace oil polluting Sundarbans' Shela River using sponge and sacks with the help of fishermen and locals.

They have backpedalled on the decision to use chemicals to contain the oil that has spread over 34,000 hectares of area endangering ecology of the world's largest mangrove forest.

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

Padma Oil has set up two purchasing centres under Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation's supervision to buy the furnace oil collected by the locals from the Sundarbans spill.

Sundarbans east zone forest officer Amir Hossain Chowdhury said they were sealing off entries to canals with nets to prevent the oil from spreading further.

Tugboat Kandari-10 has arrived at the scene from Chittagong with 10,000 litres of oil spill dispersant.

But BIWTA chief Md Shamddoha Khandkar said they would try to collect the oil with the locals' help for the next three days.

"We'll decide on using the chemical after that," he added.

Forest officials fear all 350,000 litres of oil has already spread inside Sundarbans while environmentalists fear it could wreak havoc on ecology.

'Southern Star 7' has been towed to a sandbar about a kilometre away from the accident site almost 55 hours on.

A meeting headed by BIWTA Chairman Samsuddoha Khondaker was held at the Mongla port to find out ways to remove the spilled oil.

Port Authority's Chairman Commodore Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan said the decision to initially use sponge and sack was taken there.

Khondaker said sponge was used to remove oil one and a half years ago at Bishkhali River. It had yielded good results.

Shipping ministry's Additional Secretary Rafiqul Islam, overseeing the operations, told reporters in Dhaka that the oil dispersant on Kandari-10 dilute the oil on the water and improve oxygen in the waters.

He claimed the system was internationally recognised.

Abu Bakar Siddique, in charge of Kandari-10, told bdnews24.com that they had used chemical in at least 20 incidents of oil spill in the Karnapuhuli River.

He said no side effects on the environment were visible anywhere.

The BIWTA has been using the Shela River as an alternative route as the Bangladesh-India river protocol route and the Ghashiakhali channel had been closed for last three years.

The government on Wednesday closed all river traffic to the Shela River and filed a Tk 1 billion compensation suit.

Additional Secretary Islam said dredging on the Mongla-Ghashiakhli channel was already underway and that it would be navigable by June next year.

Another probe committee

The Ministry of Environment and Forest has formed another nine-strong investigation committee.

Headed by Additional Secretary Md Nurul Karim, it has been asked to figure out adverse effects of the oil spill on the ecology and recommend ways to tackle it.

It will submit findings within Dec 18.

Earlier, the Department of Shipping and the Forest Department formed two separate committees to investigate the incident.

Cargo vessel MT Total that rammed into the oil tanker has been confiscated, and its survey and registration have been suspended.