Grounded casino ship at beach a lurking ecological hazard:Cong

The Congress today demanded "fixing the responsibility" in connection with grounding of a casino ship at the Miramar beach near here, which it said could result into an "ecological disaster".

Casino Lucky 7 ran aground at the famous beach after it hit a sandbar on July 13 when it was being shifted to the Mandovi river from the Mormugao Harbour.

"The presence of the ship at the beach may pose the risk of environmental damage for the area. The National Institute of Oceanography should conduct a study about the possible environmental degradation which might have been caused to the Miramar beach due to the grounding of the ship," state unit Congress president Shantaram Naik said.

He said if any environmental damage is detected in the study, then those responsible for causing it be booked under criminal charges.

"The accountability should be fixed for this serious incident," he said.

The vessel continues to remain at the same spot on the beach, as a salvage firm which was supposed to tow it to Mandovi river has not undertaken the operation yet.

Chief minister Manohar Parrikar had last month directed the firm to move MV Lucky 7 back to Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)