We call on the government to urgently provide more resources to the BIWTA to help clean up the 350,000 litres of furnace oil which threaten the precious ecosystem of the Sundarbans, following the capsize of the oil tanker Southern Star Seven in the Sela River on Tuesday.
There is no time to delay in getting all necessary support to mitigate the environmental consequences of this catastrophic accident.
A key dolphin habitat and sanctuary has already been inundated by this oil spill. The more time that is lost in stemming and cleaning up the flow of oil, the more oil is likely to wash up and remain among forest vegetation and topsoil. This may cause huge damage to the ecosystem of this unique World Heritage site and harm the food chain of the Sundarbans’ two major animals, deer and tigers.
The government has to treat this incident as a matter of the utmost national priority. It is deeply concerning that this accident is the result of not one but two oil tankers hitting each other as they both travelled along a route prohibited for all kinds of large vessels.
We must not compound the illegality and recklessness which underlies this accident to be compounded by delays in acting to protect the environment from this wholly preventable oil spill.
The probe committee formed to investigate this accident must take firm action against the owners and operators of the vessels responsible and recommend precautionary investments to improve oil distribution networks to prevent vessels being tempted to use this illegal route in future.
We cannot risk compromising the future of the Sundarbans.
