Kanimozhi wants Centre’s immediate intervention

Raising the issue in Parliament on Thursday, Kanimozhi drew the House’s attention to the contradictory reports pertaining to the volume of crude oil spilled and said the initial reports claimed that one tonne had been spilled due to the collision of two ships off Chennai but recent reports suggested that much more crude oil has been spilled into Bay of Bengal. Claiming that plenty of fish and turtles among various other marine species have died owing to the oil spill, she said that as  much as 35km-long coastline of Tamil Nadu has been affected by the incident. 

Alleging that there was abysmally low coordination among port and environment departments as well as the Coast Guard in clearing the spilled crude oil, the DMK MP said that officers competent enough to handle such emergencies have not been involved in the drive. 

Referring to a 2013 Coast Guard report claiming that about 10 officers had been trained to handle such exigencies, Kanimozhi said that lack of trained manpower and availability of machinery had hampered the cleaning drive. Responding to her statement, Union Urban Development Minister Venkiah Naidu assured that the Centre would do the needful.