At a time when environmentalists and even the United Nations have expressed grave concern over the adverse fallout from oil spill in the Shela River of the Sundarbans, a senior Minister has assured the nation that no damage will be done to the world's biggest mangrove forest.
There is, as it seems, always a ready official answer to sideline a genuine and grave issue. Such a careless remark of the authorities, as experts say, will only perpetuate the national problem. The same minister's earlier stout defence of 'delinquent' drivers sent a wrong message -one that shocked the nation.
The Sundarbans is a gift of Nature to Bangladesh. But sadly, the authorities were at their wit's end when over 2,00,000 litres of furnace oil were spilled in the Shale River. It took nearly five days for the authorities to act for mopping up the oil from different channels of rivers crisscrossing the forest.
The oil tanker, carrying 3,58,000 litres of furnace oil and eight crew members, sank near Mongla last Tuesday following its collision with a cargo vessel. All but 400 litres of the oil got leaked, spilling along a 100km stretch of the Shela and Pasur rivers, causing serious threat to the aquatic life. Since many birds subsisted on the aquatic organisms, they too, as many environmentalist groups said, would be affected by the spillage.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a global conservation platform is concerned about the incident. "Chemical dispersants shouldn't be used without consulting international experts with oil spill experience in mangrove forests. Dispersants are typically used in oceanic waters to prevent the slick from reaching the shore," said the WCS in its immediate observation on the Sundarbans oil spill. The WCS has called for placing fine-mesh mosquito nets at the entrance of small creeks and said that oil must be manually removed from behind these nets.
One of the important UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Sundarbans is indeed a treasure trove of biodiversity. It is one of the last remaining habitats for the Asian tiger and provides habitat for two endangered species of dolphin: the Ganges and the Irrawaddy dolphin. The Sundarbans also acts as a huge natural barrier against cyclones, storms and other natural disasters.
It consists of three wildlife sanctuaries (Sundarbans West, East and South) lying on the disjunct deltaic islands just west of the main outflow of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, close to the border with India. The sanctuaries are intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mud flats and small islands of salt tolerant mangrove forests. The area is flooded with salty water during high tides which mix with freshwater from the inland rivers. The larger channels are often a kilometre or two wide and generally run in the north-south direction.
Rivers in the Sundarbans tend to be long and straight, a consequence of the strong tidal forces and the easily eroded clay and silt deposits. But apart from the Baleswar river, the waterways carry little freshwater as they are cut off from the Ganges, the outflow of which has shifted from the Hooghly-Bhagirathi channels in India progressively eastwards since the 17th century.
Sadly, the oil spill took place in one of the three dolphin sanctuaries in the area. Experts have called it an ecological 'catastrophe'. The government is under-prepared to deal with an oil spill in an area of global significance. But the forest department has filed cases against the owners of the two ships for compensation.
The Sundarbans Rakkha Jatiya Committee that held a rally in front of the National Press Club alleged that cargo ships and oil tankers were making their passage through the forest rampantly, threatening its ecology in defiance of the Prime Minister's earlier instruction.
Khushi Kabir, coordinator of Nijera Kori, demanded formulation of a guideline on the use of the Sundarbans and its strict enforcement so that the world's biggest mangrove forest remains protected with its resources that are providing thousands with livelihoods.
It is also time for the government to re-examine its plan to construct the Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans in view of its great importance. People who say that coal-fired power stations that produce low cost electricity are not the right choice because the social and environmental costs of such plants are not consistent.
The Rampal plant, only about 14 kilometres off the Sundarbans, is expected to pollute the water bodies in the forest and destroy its ecological balance. Because of their environmental impacts, coal-based power plants are otherwise losing popularity worldwide. Even the Indian guidelines for thermal power stations strictly avoid locations of such plants within 25 kilometres of the outer periphery of metropolitan cities, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and ecologically sensitive areas.
No doubt, the Sundarbans is an ecologically sensitive area.
arjayster@gmail.com
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
