Environment activists have rejected the assessment of the Sundarbans oil spill jointly conducted by the government and the UN to find out the incident’s impact on the mangrove forest’s ecosystem.
Terming the report improper and motivated, Sharif Jamil, joint secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), yesterday said it was hiding the real damage and was unacceptable.
“The UN-government team prepared the assessment report based on the data they collected two weeks after the incident, which could not have presented the real picture as the spilled oil had already been washed away by then,” he said at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity.
The team also did not measure the eco-toxicity of the spilled oil before it prepared the report though it was required for the assessment of the damage; nor did they examine the hydro-carbon level of water there, which also required to determine the level of pollution in water, he said.
The press conference was jointly organised by the National Committee on Save the Sundarbans and BAPA.
The report in question, titled “Sundarbans Oil Spill Assessment,” was published on March 1 and stated that there were no significant visible impacts on the forest floor during the assessment, and it requires long-term monitoring to know the actual damage.
However, the report said oil contamination in the aquatic ecosystem may hamper physiological activities, including breeding, of aquatic organisms as well as disrupt the local food chain.
The environment activists demanded a fresh and scientific assessment of the oil spill in the world’s largest mangrove forest to find out the actual damage and a way forward to save the forest from such incidents in future.
The oil spill took place on December 9 last year when oil tanker Southern Star 7 capsized in the Sela River near Mrigmari area on the east of the Sundarbans after being hit by a cargo vessel around 6am. The capsize caused around 358,000 litres of furnace oil to spill in the river, putting the mangrove forest and its natural resources at severe risk.
Later, in response to a request by the government, a 25-member UNDP team, including nine foreign experts, conducted the assessment in coordination with the government from December 22 to December 27.