Environmentalists at a human chain yesterday demanded that the government take immediate steps to protect the Sundarbans from the oil spill in the rivers Shela and Pashur.

Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) organised the event in front of the National Museum in the capital.

A thick layer of oil is floating in the two rivers after an oil tanker carrying 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil and eight crew members sank in the Shela near

Mongla around 5:00am on Tuesday.

Speakers at the human chain said survival of aquatic life forms, including different species of fishes, crocodiles and dolphins, in the Sundarbans depend on zooplankton and phytoplankton, organisms that drift in oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water.

The oil spill would destroy these organisms and harm the forest's biodiversity, they added.

Abu Naser Khan, chairman ofPoba, said government can restrict the spill using foam and net and then clean up

the oil with help of experts.

Referring to the forest department's claim that Tk 100 crore wealth of the forestry was damaged, Dr Anisuzzaman Khan, chairperson of Biodiversity World, questioned how they can estimate the loss before any survey was done by experts.

He said according to the law, no vessel can ply within the Sundarbans. Yet around 150 to 250 vessels ply there everyday.

Abdus Sobhan, executive secretary ofPoba, among others, spoke.