BPC to buy oil spilled on Karnaphuli River

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will buy the oil that have spilled into the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong after two tank cars fell-off a rail bridge on Friday.
Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mejbah Uddin said on Sunday that the state-owned oil entity would pay Tk 30 per litre for the spilled furnace oil, bdnews24.com reported.
“All sorts of measures have been taken so that the oil does not pollute the environment. Manual labour has been employed to stop further spill off,” he told bdnews24.com after visiting the site in Boalkhali, where the tankers fell into the river.
An official of the Department of Environment (DoE), who visited the area on Saturday said that the oil had spread into 25 kilometres of the river and the canals connected to it.
The Boalkhali canal, nine kilometres away from the Karnaphuli, is linked to the river.
The furnace oil was headed for the 100-megawatt peaking power plant at Dohazari from Chittagong.
Each of the eight tank cars can hold up to 33,640 litres.
Two of the tank-wagons sank in the Boalkhali canal. A third was partially submerged while a fourth one tilted sideways.
The mishap occurred on the bridge 24 between Gomdandi and Dhalghat. Railway officials claim the bridge was identified as ‘risky’ nine years ago.