Sundarbans oil slick raises alarm in India

Environmental authorities in India are on alert after a tanker sank in the Sundarbans region following a collision with another vessel, spilling thousands of liters of fuel oil into a nature reserve in neighboring Bangladesh.

“There are no reports till now that the oil spill has reached the Indian part of the Sundarbans,” Pradip Vyas, director of the Sundarbans Biosphere, said on Saturday.

He added Indian “wildlife officials have been deployed along the Sundarbans area bordering Bangladesh to check if the spill is spreading” as a precaution.

On December 9, an oil tanker carrying more than 350,000 liters (92,500 gallons) of bunker oil sank in the Sundarbans after being hit by a cargo vessel.

M. Giasuddin, an official of the company that owns the vessel, said the sunken oil tanker was salvaged on December 11, and two of its six containers had been badly damaged.

Some news reports said more than 200,000 liters (52,800 gallons) of oil had contaminated waters in the Sundarbans.

The slick has reportedly spread over 70 kilometers (45 miles) of the Shela River, which is home to endangered Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins and other rare aquatic animals.

At least 20 canals connected with the Shela as well as another major river, Pashur, have also bore the brunt.

The Sundarbans, with an expanse of over 10,000 square kilometers (3,800 square miles), is the world’s largest mangrove forest, and home to hundreds of Bengal tigers.

Environmentalists say the chemicals could harm the delicate ecology of the area.

“The risk of damage to the biodiversity is high but we have yet to confirm any deaths of major animals including dolphins and crocodiles,” Tapan Kumer Dey, a senior official of the Bangladesh Forest Department said.

Bangladeshi fishermen, using sponges and sacks, have begun cleaning up the huge oil spill. However, authorities have warned they lack the hardware and experience for a major effort.