At least 100 mechanised and non-mechanised boats have reportedly been hired to scoop up spilt oil from the River Shela in the eastern Sunderbans region of Bangladesh.
According to the Daily Star, the oil spilled over from an oil tanker that sank in the river in Bagerhat last Tuesday.
The daily further reveals that about 200 local people have been roped in to collect the spilt oil from the river.
The forest department is supervising the operation.
It maybe recalled that a tanker ferrying furnance oil sank in the river in the Sunderbans after being hit by a cargo vessel in the Mongla sub-district of the Bagerhat region.
The oil is also being retrieved from the adjoining canals of two rivers-Shela and Pashur-of the reserve forest, a Unesco natural heritage site.
The Daily Star quoted Abul Kalam Azad, an officer of the Chandpai forest range, as saying, "The oil collection will continue until further notice.
