Chennai oil spill: NGT seeks report from centre within 24 hours

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday sought a report on the Chennai oil spill within 24 hours. The NGT has asked the Centre to present the facts of the oil spill and the measures being taken to clean up the sludge.

Ten days after the oil spill, close to 5,000 volunteers are struggling to clean up the Chennai coastline of the sludge.

The development came after a petition, which has also sought constitution of an expert committee to oversee and monitor the entire clean-up process and assess the damage caused to the environment.

The petition has made the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the Ministry of Shipping, the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, the TN State Pollution Control Board as parties.

Chennai woke up to a news about collision of two ships on the morning of January 28, one carrying liquid petroleum gas and the other loaded with petroleum lubricating oil, near Kamaraj Port in Ennore.

On the same day, Kamaraj Port Limited stated in their official statement that "there is no damage to the environment like oil pollution".

There wasn't any evidence of a spill until black viscous oil began to wash ashore in north Chennai, initially. The collision had caused seepage of petroleum lubricating oilinto the sea. Over time with the movement of water, current oil began to wash up along the southern shores of Chennai.

The oil has spread at least 40 km along the shore.