Burying their crime under the sand
How could they defy DOE orders?
On February 3 this paper published a picture of hundreds of bags filled with black engine oil covering large portions of the sandy bank of the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong. According to the report unscrupulous traders were dumping discarded engine oil of ships onto the bank which would later be used in brick kilns. The act has clearly violated environmental laws and the Department of Environment's prohibitions. But from a photograph in yesterday's paper it is clear that these individuals couldn't care less what the DOE has ordered. The picture shows hundreds of bags of the noxious engine oil buried under the sand. The area is near the Chittagong airport runway.
The bags with engine oil lying on the sand, pose multiple hazards. If they spill—and most likely they will—they will pollute the soil as well as the water as they seep into the river. Engine oil, moreover, is combustible and so leakages can cause fire hazards of huge proportions.
We have learnt that the DOE has fined those individuals who had leased the land to keep their sand on and had allowed traders to dump the oil bags. The primary culprits, therefore, seem to have got away with their crime, scot-free. The DOE, moreover, had instructed those who had taken lease of the land to remove all the bags but instead, they have buried the bags under the sand. This means not only the engine oil but also the polythene will contaminate the soil.
We cannot help but ask whether the DOE has any monitoring mechanism to ensure that their orders are followed. Otherwise how could these individuals be so defiant of the law?
Oil spills have already degraded many of our rivers and water bodies. Now they are being dumped on the soil. It is the responsibility of those who lease out the land, in this case the Chittagong port authority, as well as the DOE, to make sure that such blatant acts of environmental degradation do not take place.