Water being sprayed to remove oil slicks from trees, grasses

One week after an oil tanker crash in Shela River, Forest Department officials on Tuesday started spraying water to remove oil slicks from trees and grasses in the Sundarbans. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans East Zone under Mongla Upazila in Bagerhat district, said they started removing oil slicks with 3 water pumps from plants and grasses near Chandpai Range of the forest office around 2:30am. Besides, they brought hyacinth from Sharankhola and Bagi areas in the Sundarbans which will be dumped in the canals and on riverbanks for soaking, and then those will be dumped in another place after a few days, he said. Oil tanker ‘OT Southern Star 7’ loaded with over 0.35 million litres of furnace oil, capsized in Shela River last Tuesday. The Forest Department had launched their drive on Saturday to clean up the oil by hiring some 100 boats and 200 day-labourers, according to a news agency.