Jairam Ramesh says oil spill is the worst India has seen

Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh today said the oil spill off the Mumbai coast was the worst the country has ever seen.

He also said that the damage was quite tangible.

The Union minister for environment and forests said a detailed assessment would be carried out in 2-3 days and a detailed review would follow.

The minister  visited the site of the oil spill off Mumbai coast today to take stock of the ongoing salvage operations, a week after the ship collision.

Accompanied by Maharashtra environment minister Suresh Shetty, Ramesh expressed his concern over the extensive damage to the environment and the coastal areas of Mumbai, Raigad and Thane districts.

The minister said that the mangroves along the coast have been damaged extensively due to the spill and only some of them will be able to regenerate.

In the meantime, several workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) along with the Coast Guard workers undertook clean-up operations at the site of the oil spill Saturday morning.

The oil spilled from the sunken containers that fell from the Panamanian cargo carrier, MSC Chitra after its collision with a St. Kitts-flagged vessel, MV Khalijia-III, just outside the Mumbai harbour last Saturday.