This
has taken 3 days to come to my attention – not one of the
headlines. Who cares if one of the wonders of the world, theSundarbans, a UNESCO Heritage Site are destroyed by oil?!
We'll see if the western countries rush in with assistance.
Bangladesh
oil spill 'threatens rare dolphins'
Bangladesh
officials warn that an oil spill from a crashed tanker is threatening
endangered dolphins and other wildlife in the massive Sundarbans
mangrove region, branding the leak an ecological ‘catastrophe
11
December, 2014
An
oil spill from a crashed tanker is threatening endangered dolphins
and other wildlife in the Sundarbans mangrove region.
Bangladesh officials
have called the leak an ecological “catastrophe”.
The
tanker, carrying an estimated 350,000 litres (75,000 gallons), of oil
collided on Tuesday with another vessel and partly sank in the
Sundarbans’ Shela river, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges
dolphins.
Although
officials are unsure how much oil has spilled, they warned the slick
has spread to another river as well as a network of canals in the
vast Sundarbans delta.
“The
oil spill has spread over a 60km-long (37 mile) area in the Shela and
Passur rivers,” said Amir Hossain, chief forest official of the
Sundarbans.
“It’s
a catastrophe for the delicate ecology of the Sundarbans. The oil
spill has already blackened the shoreline, threatening trees,
plankton, vast populations of small fishes and dolphins,” Hossain
said.
“The
symptoms of environmental damage will be visible soon, as the water
quality has already been damaged,” he dded.
Authorities
have launched a small-scale clean-up, but warned they lack the
hardware and experience for a major effort. Navy boats and government
officials were en route to salvage the tanker.
“We’ve
not started any major clean-up efforts yet. In fact, the forest
department doesn’t have the technology to deal with this kind of
disaster,” said Hossain.
Bangladesh’s
state-run petroleum corporation was using buoys to restrict the
slick, while local fishermen have been ordered to use nets to try to
stop the oil entering small canals.
Oil
from a Bangladeshi oil-tanker is seen on the Shela River in the
Sundarbans in Mongla.Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Spread
over 10,000 sq km (3,900 sq miles), the Sundarbans is a Uesco-listed
World Heritage Site and home to hundreds of Bengal tigers. The delta
comprises a network of rivers and canals straddling Bangladesh and
India.
The
three areas were declared dolphin sanctuaries in 2011 after studies
found they are home to some 6,000 of the animals. Fishermen are
banned from making catches there, but tankers and other boats are
allowed to pass through.
Speaking
to AFP from the accident site, Mansur labelled the spill a “national
disaster” and accused authorities of not doing enough to contain
the damage.
“There
are no coordinated efforts to tackle the disaster. The air has become
toxic and we got news from fishermen they’ve seen dead fishes.
Crabs which make up the largest single group in the forest are facing
the biggest threat,” he said.
“And
if crabs are hit, the dolphins and tigers will be
affected. Dolphins will
find it very difficult to breathe this foul air,” he added.
Sundarbans
oil slick raises alarm in India
Environmental
authorities in India are on alert after a tanker sank in the
Sundarbans region following a collision with another vessel, spilling
thousands of liters of fuel oil into a nature reserve in neighboring
Bangladesh.
13
December, 2014
"There
are no reports till now that the oil spill has reached the Indian
part of the Sundarbans," Pradip Vyas, director of the Sundarbans
Biosphere, said on Saturday.
He
added Indian "wildlife officials have been deployed along the
Sundarbans area bordering Bangladesh to check if the spill is
spreading" as a precaution.
On
December 9, an oil tanker carrying more than 350,000 liters (92,500
gallons) of bunker oil sank in the Sundarbans after being hit by a
cargo vessel.
M.
Giasuddin, an official of the company that owns the vessel, said the
sunken oil tanker was salvaged on December 11, and two of its six
containers had been badly damaged.
Some
news reports said more than 200,000 liters (52,800 gallons) of oil
had contaminated waters in the Sundarbans.
The
slick has reportedly spread over 70 kilometers (45 miles) of the
Shela River, which is home to endangered Irrawaddy and Ganges
dolphins and other rare aquatic animals.
At
least 20 canals connected with the Shela as well as another major
river, Pashur, have also bore the brunt.
The
Sundarbans, with an expanse of over 10,000 square kilometers (3,800
square miles), is the world's largest mangrove forest, and home to
hundreds of Bengal tigers.
Environmentalists
say the chemicals could harm the delicate ecology of the area.
"The
risk of damage to the biodiversity is high but we have yet to confirm
any deaths of major animals including dolphins and crocodiles,"
Tapan Kumer Dey, a senior official of the Bangladesh Forest
Department said.
Bangladeshi
fishermen, using sponges and sacks, have begun cleaning up the huge
oil spill. However, authorities have warned they lack the hardware
and experience for a major effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.