MoEF asks state to initiate legal action against PPT

The Union ministry of environment and forests has directed the Orissa government to take legal action against the Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) authorities for violating the Wild Life Protection Act, Environment (Protection) Act and Water Pollution Act.

The ministry feels that the PPT authorities have violated these acts by failing to retrieve the oil from the capsized vessel Black Rose, even after 28 days of the sinking of the vessel in the Bay of Bengal, about five km from the Paradeep port.

The ministry has also directed the state government to set up a crisis group to monitor the removal of oil from the sunken vessel and also to ensure that pollution does not affect the habitats of the sea turtles.

The crisis group is to be set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state who is the statutory authority in matters related to wildlife protection.

Biswajit Mohanty, member, National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) may also be involved in the crisis group along with representatives from the Orissa State Pollution Control Board, Indian Coast Guard, Wildlife Institute of India, forest department and the local civil administration. According to the ministry, the oil spill from the sunken vessel can cause irreparable damage to the habitat of Olive Ridley sea turtles and also lead to the mortality of sea turtles along with other marine species.

“Olive Ridley Turtles are Schedule-I species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The killing of these turtles is a punishable offence”, said Amol Kumar, deputy inspector general of forests (Wild Life) under the ministry of environment and forests.

Kumar has informed the state government that the port authorities have so far delayed the issue of taking immediate action to mitigate the environmental disaster of this magnitude. Meanwhile, the oil plug operations of the sunken vessel have been affected due to inclement weather conditions. PPT had selected a Visakhapatnam-based private firm for the work.