Chennai oil spill: Gadkari says probe will nail guilty in a month

Based on the outcome of the probe, action would be initiated against the guilty, the minister added

The government has ordered a high- level probe, headed by director general Shipping, to nail the guilty behind the oil spill that took place off the Chennai Coast following the collision between two ships and the report is likely in a month, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

A big damage control exercise was carried out in the wake of the collision, containing a major problem, and the ship has been emptied safely this morning, the shipping, road transport and highways minister said.

Based on the outcome of the probe, action would be initiated against the guilty, he said.

Oil spill has been a cause of concern ever since "M T BW Maple" leaving after emptying Liquefied Petroleum Gas on January 28 collided with M T Dawn, Kanchipuram, loaded with petroleum oil lubricant (POL) off Ennore Port, which is among top 12 major ports in the country.

Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said the vessel had more than 32,000 tonne of oil and has been emptied.

"Oil spill has been cleaned. From the tank, it did not leak. Oil was leaked from the engine. There is no leakage from the ship," Radhakrishnan said.

Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar said that like with the provisions of enquiry by DGCA, in case of accidents involving air planes, there is a similar provision in the Merchant Shipping Act for enquiry and fixing responsibility.

He said final findings were expected in a month as all possible evidences are being collected to fix the liability.

"Action will be taken and the primary responsibility for paying for this clean up will rest with the ship which has erred in this particular event," Kumar said.

Also, he said, the Shipping Ministry has sought an audit report on whether the ports handling oil are well equipped as "50 per cent subsidy is given to ports handling oil to get equipment and last year we got OISD (Oil Industry Safety Board) which looks after the safety of oil installations in the country.

"Whatever deficiencies they had pointed out, instructions were given to remove them and I had been told by Ennore Port they had the equipment which is prescribed under the Crisis management Plan".

He said pollution control measures have already been initiated as per the Crisis Management Plan and the government has deputed a high-level committee to oversee operations comprising Joint Secretary Shipping, Additional Secretary Shipping as well as Additional Secretary from Petroleum.

"We were coordinating the efforts with Coast Guard as well as with the State Governments... There was absolute coordination. People were working which were provided by both the ports as well as from the Maritime institutions. The NGOs and other volunteers, they have done outstandingly good work," Kumar said.

He explained that one tonne of oil leaked gets ten times bigger after being mixed with water and debris and by this morning 116 tonnes of sludge had been collected.

The shipping secretary said that as per the estimates of the Coast Guard, about 20 metric tonne of oil might have originally leaked at the first instance of impact.

"The assessment is based on the fact that immediately after the incident, the port authorities had placed a boom which is basically a floating device to contain any more spill," Kumar said.

He also said that the ship was stabilised to avert threat, with the help of Indian Registrar of Shipping and DG Shipping experts, as it contained 32,000 tonnes of oil.

"They certified that the ship can be safely taken to the berth and it was taken there and was emptied safely. It was a huge and risky operation. This morning that exercise has been completed and a much larger problem which could have arisen has been averted," he said.

He said as per a report from the Principal Secretary, Environment, Tamil Nadu a committee has been formed comprising experts in Marine Biology and to ensure that the collected sludge does not leak into the soil, bio-remedial measures including releasing bacteria which eats into the sludge has been initiated.

"Fifty bags of agent has been provided by the R&D Centre of IOCL. It has already reached the site. They have put it in a pit which is guarded by a thick plastic sheet...We expect residue will also be taken care of," Kumar said.

Oil spill has occurred in nearly 72 km of the eastern coast from Ennore Port to Mahabalipuram. About 12 km has got affected with oil slick and about 250 metres, particularly in R K Nagar Kuppam area, is reported to be most affected.