Over 100 boats collect spilled oil at Sunderban

Forest department on Saturday launched a fresh drive with 100 boats and over 200 villagers to collect the furnace oil that spilled in river Shela and adjacent canals in Sundarban by the sunken tanker Southern Star-7. A non government organisation, Jagrta Juba Sangstha, also engaged 22 boats to collect oil from the river and canals. Forest department divisional forest officer of east wing, Amir Hossain Chowdhury, said more than 200 villagers were engaged by the forest department since 6:00am this morning to collect oil.

They are collecting oil from 21 canals connecting Shela rive by netting system, he said. ‘Since we are not using any chemical, we had to opt for manual system to protect the forest,’ said Amir Hossain. The villagers will get Tk. 30 for one litre oil they collect. Moreover the department will pay them Tk. 300 on a day basis, he added. The oil will be sold to Padma Oil Company under forest department’s supervision, Amir Hossain told New Age. Oil tanker, OT Southern Star-7 carrying 3.57 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in Shela river in Sundarban on early Tuesday that spilled 60 kilometres area in Sundarban for past four days, triggering an awful toll on marine life.

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