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Only RK Nagar Kuppam left: Coast Guard
Around 34,000 square metres of deep sea has been affected by the oil spill following the collision between MT Dawn Kanchipuram and MT BW Maple on January 28, said Coast Guard Region (East) Inspector General Rajan Bargotra.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Elaborating on the cleaning up operation, he said, “We are using Oil Spill Dispersant (OSD) only on oil sheens present in the deep sea, up to a depth of 10 metres, wherever it is environmentally feasible. We have launched almost 19 helicopter sorties. Wherever an oil sheen is spotted, the helicopters communicate it to the ICGS Varad, which deals with the situation. About 34,000 sq m has been cleared using 2,800 litres, of which 200 litres was used on the first day itself.”
Speaking of the situation on the shore, Bargotra said that 90 pc of the oil from the spill had landed north of Chennai Port. “Of the 72-km Chennai coastline from Ennore to Mahabalipuram, only 12 km is affected due to the oil pollution.
A four km stretch near Marina, three km at Tiruvanmiyur and some parts south of Tiruvanmiyur have been hit. The worst-hit is the Ramakrishna Nagar Kuppam Beach, where we didn’t use OSD – we don’t want to substitute one chemical for another. On Marina beach, 80 pc of the tar balls washed ashore have been removed.
Similar operations are on at Tiruvanmiyur and Elliot’s beaches. These will be restored soon. The cleaning up of rocks at RK Nagar Kuppam will take at least 10 to 12 days. A total of 170 kilolitres of sludge and water mixture has been removed from the RK Kuppam site by Friday. “Only 10 pc of this mixture is oil from the spill.
Around 20 tonnes of oil spill must have occurred,” added Bargotra. On fishing community’s apprehension, Bargotra said that only the 250 metres of RK Nagar Beach has been affected.
SOMETIME BACK…
At a time when it is all talk about collision of ships and oil spill, a brief recall of the three ship problems in the Bay of Bengal
Sept 2016: The passenger ship Harshavardhana with 480 passengers and 50 crew lost propulsion power after diesel generator failure off Visakhapatnam and remained adrift in Bay of Bengal
Nov 2014: The 182-metre-long 46664 dwt bulk carrier, Bashundhara 8, collided with a fishing vessel, Bandhan, in the Bay of Bengal off St Martin’s Island, Bangladesh. The Bandhan rolled over and sank killing 26 of the 29 crew on board
Oct 2014: The 91-metre-long Indian Naval Missile Corvette INS Kora collided with the 183-metre-long 23062 dwt general cargo vessel, Madeleine Rickmers, in the Bay of Bengal off Vishakhapatnam
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