Pollution builds in bay, probes opened into fish death
Staff Correspondent, Ctg
Sea fish that died on an epidemic scale at the outer anchorage of Chittagong port are rotting, posing a threat of further pollution of bay waters, a survey team from the Marine Fisheries Department said yesterday.The epidemic broke out on Monday, two days after oil spillage from a state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) oil tanker polluted the port channel. The team headed by the department's Deputy Director Sabbir Ahmed went to survey the outer sea. "We have seen a blanket of dead fish, most rotten, floating in the seawater," Sabbir said adding: "The rotten fish will cause further contamination in the bay." "We have collected rotten fish's sample for laboratory tests," he added. Another team member said a tidal wave washed many dead fish into to coastal areas. Another team from Bangladesh Forest Research Institute in Cox's Bazar is expected to arrive in Chittagong tomorrow to launch a survey to find the causes of the fish epidemic. Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) sued the BCS oil tanker MT Banglar Sourav after the spillage that spread over 15km in the sea. The CPA also formed a two-member body to probe the oil spillage. The probe body is expected to submit its report today, port officials said.
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