BR secretary visits oil wagon accident spot

CHITTAGONG, Jun 21: The broken bridge on the Chittagong-Dohazari railway route will be repaired and made fit for railway carriage within a week.
Acting secretary of Bangladesh Railway (BR) Firoz Salauddin made the disclosure after visiting the bridge area on Sunday.
BR DG (director general) Amjad Hossain, DG of the environment directorate Roisul Alam Mondal, BR general manager for east zone Mozammel Haque and deputy commissioner of Chittagong Mesbah Uddin were also present.
Railway secretary said the tank wagons would be lifted first and immediate steps would be taken to repair the broken bridge so that the railway line gets fit for plying of trains.
The three wagons carrying furnace oil for the Dohazari 100-megawatt Peaking Power Plant fell into the roadside canal at the Boalkhali Bridge between the Bengura railway station of Boalkhali and Dhalghat station of Patiya on the Chittagong-Dohazari railway line on Friday. A total of nine wagons were carrying furnace oil to the plant.
The railway authority was working to reduce the damage to environment caused by oil slick in the area from the Boalkhali Canal to the Karnaphuli River, the secretary said.
Environment officials said the oil slick pervaded an area of 15 kilometres on the Karnaphuli River. It might cause harm to the biodiversity in the area.
Railway GM said there are 32 bridges on the Chittagong-Dohazari railway line which need to be re-constructed. A plan is underway in this connection, he said.
The Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong said that the BPC (Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation) would purchase the spilled oil at Tk 30 per litre. He asked the local people to collect the oil and sell it to the BPC.