Normal traffic to be restored in Mumbai harbour by Aug 15

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan,who had undertaken an aerial survey of the affected areas,said,”the situation is under control now. He said it has been estimated that between 400-500 metric tonnes of oil may have spilled from the vessel which was carrying 2,662 metric tonnes of oil.

Foreign experts have been engaged in the exercise of removing the remaining oil. Work for this task will be initiated by the concerned agencies from August 13,he said.

In Delhi,making a suo motu statement in Parliament,Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said 17 ships were waiting to leave the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and the Mumbai Port Trust(MbPT) and 15 ships were waiting to berth.

“By Sunday (August 15) evening,the harbour would be clear and normal traffic will then be restored both at JNPT and MbPT,” Ramesh said. Traffic was suspended at Mumbai harbour following the oil spill.

These ships were stranded due to a collision between two Panamian ships MSC Chitra and another vessel Khalija off the Mumbai coast on Saturday. The oil spill came from Chitra.

Thirty three crew members,including two Pakistanis,were rescued following the incident.

Fishermen have been advised to avoid fishing activity till August 15 as there were still 200 containers floating on the sea water.

A case has been lodged under the Environment Protection Act 1986. However,the entire salvage operation would take 45 days,Ramesh said.

Terming the oil spill as a “big disaster”,Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said,”we have the technology. We will try to clean the water as soon as possible”.

Atleast 31 containers with hazardous chemicals,including organo-phosphorous pesticides,sodium hydrochloride and pyrethroid pesticides are on board Chitra.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) authorities have been asked not to use sea water for cooling purposes at the premier atomic establishment.

The collision appears to have been due to the two vessels communicating on different radio frequencies.

Khalijia collided with the port side of Chitra damaging one of its hatches. Chitra had in all 1,219 containers of which 707 were in the hold and 512 on the deck.

Concerned over the oil spill,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for a report from the Shipping Ministry on the incident.

Ramesh said a five-pronged action plan has been drawn up under which the floating containers will be collected,fuel would be removed from Chitra,containers taken out from the deck and hold after which salvage of the ship would be attended to.

A review meeting called by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar on Tuesday was informed that the oil was not of alarming proportion.

Closure of the two ports have disrupted shipments of goods including petroleum products,grains and automobiles.

The oil spill issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by Congress member from Mumbai North,Sanjay Nirupam,who said it has created panic in Mumbai.

Sanjeev Naik (NCP) said an enquiry should be ordered to assess how the oil spill would affect marine life. His contention was that fish would be affected and the same could be consumed by people,thus threatening their lives.