Opposition criticises Tamil Nadu govt’s use of buckets to manually remove sludge from the oil spill that took place off Ennore coast
A week after an oil spill caused by a collision between two cargo ships off Ennore coast, the state and the central government came under criticism from political parties in Tamil Nadu for prolonging the cleanup work by using “buckets” to manually remove the sludge.
After visiting the oil spill-affected areas in Ennore on Saturday, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, who had raised the oil spill issue in Parliament, hit out at the government for using buckets to remove the sludge. “With the Centre campaigning about ‘Digital India’, why are we using buckets to remove the sludge. The people want to know,” she said.
She added that it goes to show the government’s lack of preparedness for such a disaster.
CPI(M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan also hit out at the government for using outmoded methods to remove the sludge. “It’s been already a week since the oil spill was reported. By now, they should have brought in technology to remove the sludge,” he said. “Livelihood of the fishermen has been severely hit by delay in the cleanup work. The government should provide compensation for the fishermen whose livelihood has been affected,” Ramakrishnan said.
“It’s not a well that we are using buckets (to remove the sludge),” DMDK president Vijayakanth said. He urged the state and the Centre to bring in machinery from foreign countries to clean the coast and the oil floating in the sea.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Transport and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan defended the manual cleanup operation. He said it was the best possible way to clear the sludge accumulated along the coast. “We have equipment to remove the oil. But it can be used only in deep water, not along the coast,” he said. When asked about the fishermen’s demand for compensation, he said that both the ships were impounded by the port authorities. “We will ensure that the ship authorities pay compensation,” he said.
So far, the Coast Guard, along with volunteers, has removed 125 tonnes of sludge (a mixture of oil, sand and ocean materials) manually, and 75 tonnes using super suckers. “It will take eight to 10 days to clean the coast off the sludge along the worst-affected Ramakrishna Kuppam at Eranavur. Once the sludge is taken care of, we will be able to take up cleaning of the rocks covered in oil,” said Coast Guard commandant Pradeep B Mandal, who’s in charge of the cleanup.
fate of turtles still undecided
Animal lovers and students took up cleaning of Neelankarai beach in South Chennai to save the Olive Ridley turtles that come to the coast to lay eggs. Supraja Dharini of Tree Foundation told DNA that they’ll have a clear picture about the impact of the oil spill on the turtles only 10 to 15 days later, if they washed ashore dead. “Turtles that were found dead in North Chennai were killed by mechanised fishing nets,” she said. Dharini said the oil spill has coincided with the turtle nesting season that lasts from January to March. “This year, as of now, we have 84 nests protecting 11,000 eggs,” she said.
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