BNP forms 7-man probe committee

The oil tanker that sank in Shela river in the Sundarbans on December 9. Photo: Star

BNP today formed a seven-member committee to investigate oil tanker capsize in the Shela River and its impacts on the Sundarbans.

Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, a vice-chairman of the party, will head the team formed in line with the directives of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The committee has been asked to submit the report to Khaleda by December 25, Sayrul Kabir Khan, media wing staff of the BNP chairperson, told The Daily Star quoting the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The other members of the committee include former BNP lawmaker Nazrul Islam Manju, Khulna City Corporation Mayor Moniruzzaman Moni, environmental activist Sheikh Faridul Islam and Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, chairman of Bangladesh Environmental Journalists Forum.

The tanker, Southern Star-7, carrying 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil went down in the Shela River near in Mongla upazila of Bagerhat after a cargo vessel hit it from behind on December 9.

Several quarters expressed deep concerns of the ecological damage to the Sundarbans, a national and international heritage.

A majority of the social media users were on outrage because of the incident and strongly demanded a permanent ban on plying of vessels through the Shela river route.