No fear of oil spill, Goa port authority assures CM

Under pressure from civil society groups to act against officials of the Western Shipyard India Limited (WISL), after a dry dock partially sank last week sparking fears of an oil spill, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said that all efforts are being made to prevent a potential leakage of oil.

"Mormugao Port Trust Chairman has submitted that there is no oil in WISL dry dock, but about 100 litres of diesel is present in the generator and WISL will remove the same by May 23, 2017. MPT Chairman has assured Chief Minister that all precautions are being taken to ensure that there is no oil spill," the Chief Minister's office said in a statement issued here.

The WISL ship repair facility, where the dry dock has partially sunk, is located on MPT grounds in Mormugao sub district, located 50 km from Panaji. MPT has already filed a police complaint alleging that possible mischief could have led to a part of the dry dock sinking.

The incident has created a sense of unease in the port town of Mormugao and civil society activists have been demanding intervention of the state government in the matter.

--IANS

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