BAGERHAT, Jan 23 (UNB): The Sundarbans now must wait until the next monsoon to have the oil slicks washed away as those still remained fused with plants on the Shela river banks following an oil tanker crash in the river on December 9 last, says an expert.
"If the soil slicks could be removed from plants using pipe water, it
would have been a better option. As this is not possible, now we have to depend on the nature. Heavy rainfalls will wash away the slicks from the plants," M Shah Alam Faraizi, chairman of the Botany Department at Bagerhat Govt PC College, told the news agency.
He said the oil spill disaster has severely affected the balance of the Sundarbans' ecosystem. "It has posed a threat to aquatic creatures, biodiversity and plants in the mangrove forest."
Over one and a half months into the disaster in the Shela river of the Sundarbans, the oil slicks remain fused with the plants on the river banks, demonstrating the prospect of a very unpleasant far-reaching impact on the ecosystem of the forest.
During a recent visit to the oil spill-affected area of the world's largest mangrove forest, the news agency correspondent found 'black spots' of oil slicks on the plants on both banks of the Shela.
The Shela is a tidal river, which swells twice a day with tides, but the tidal water cannot wash away the oil slicks from the riverbank plants.
On December 9, a tanker carrying over 3.5 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in the river at Joymonigol under the East Zone of the Sundarbans, threatening the wildlife in the Unesco World Heritage site.
Amir Hossain Chowdhury, divisional forest officer (Sundarbans East Zone) and a member of the Joint UN-Govt Oil Spill Response Mission, said the Forest Department collected 68,200 litres of furnace oil from the affected rivers, but oil slicks still remain fused with vegetation on the banks of the Shela.
He said the UN team will soon submit its full observation report to the Environment and Forests Ministry and then it could be known how the oil spill poses adverse impacts on the Sundarbans' ecosystem.
"The Forest Department is strongly monitoring the oil spill incident," Amir Hossain added.
The oil spill has not only brought the environmental hazard but also affected the livelihoods of local people. As the fish species die or be forced to migrate from the oil-spilt areas of the rivers, local fishermen fear that they will lose their livelihood option.
Fisherman Yusuf Ali said he is involved in fishing in the Shela for the last 40 years and the fishing is the only livelihood option to support his family.
"I bear my family expenses by catching fishes from the Sundarbans' river and selling those. If the Sundarbans face any damage, we'll die for lack of food, losing livelihood," he said.
