Oil-spill impacts not as adverse as feared, says minister

BAGERHAT, Dec 19 (UNB): Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju on Friday said the oil-spill impacts on the Sundarbans' biodiversity were not as adverse as it was feared.
"The biodiversity and the aquatic animals have surely been affected by the oil slick following the oil spillage from the tanker, when it capsized in the Shela River in the Sundarbans. Now it appears that the extent of losses due to the oil spill is not as big as it was assumed in the beginning," he said.
The minister was talking to reporters while inspecting the oil-slick affected areas on Friday, 10 days after the oil tanker 'Southern Star-7' capsized in the river after having hit by a cargo vessel.
Claiming that no wild animal or aquatic life had died so far, Manju said the work on assessing the losses was on and the situation was getting back to normal to a great extent.
He, however, noted that as the oil-slick had already lapped over the pencil roots of the mangrove plants, it could cause death to those plants by blocking the respiratory system.
In case of death of the plants, the minister said, new trees would grow there after some time.
Manju assured that the government would take necessary steps with assistance from various international organisations keeping in mind the tentative long-term impacts.
Asked whether his ministry would take steps to ban the plying of commercial vessels on water routes through the Sundarbans, he said it could not take any decision in this regard alone. Earlier, the minister inspected about a five-km-long affected area by a speedboat.