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Bangladesh bans ships in dolphin habitat
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BANGLADESH on Monday banned boats from sailing through a key southwestern river after a ship loaded with coal capsized, threatening the sanctuaries of rare dolphins in the world’s largest mangrove forest.
Authorities imposed the ban after a ship carrying over 1,000 tons of coal sank in the Shela river, raising fears for two sanctuaries of endangered Irrawaddy and Ganges river dolphins and the delicate ecology of the Sundarbans forest.
Shipping secretary Ashok Madhob Roy said that ships would be rerouted to another channel on the edge of the forest.
Bangladesh suspended cargo boat transport through the same river in 2014 after a catastrophic oil spill that damaged the Sundarbans and triggered concerns for the forest’s dolphins and other endangered animals including Bengal tigers.
But the suspension was lifted under pressure from local trade groups, who have said the Shela river must be open for cargo vessels to ensure the smooth supply of industrial goods and food-grains to the southwestern region.
Officials said the hull of the vessel, which sank carrying about 1,200 metric tons of coal and is yet to be salvaged, was cracked.
“The sunken coal could pose grave threat to the aquatic biodiversity of the Sundarbans,” forest conservator Zahir Uddin Ahmed said.
“If the coal contains too much sulphur and if it dissolves into the water, then it is a dire concern,” Ahmed said.
“The effect of oil spillage from the ship could also be damaging.”
The Sundarbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest, home to endangered Bengal tigers, fresh-water crocodiles and rare dolphins.
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