Dispute over the effects of the Ennore oil spill on marine life

On Saturday morning, January 28, at 4 am, MT BW Maple, a ship carrying liquefied petroleum gas, and an oil tanker, MT Dawn Kanchipuram, collided near the Kamarajar Port in Ennore, Chennai. Three days later, the officials are still struggling to contain the spill.

According to the Coast Guard’s Pollution Response Force, the 200 litres of oil from the spill has spread to an area of 1,500 square meters.

The officials at the Zoological Survey of India fear that the spill will have long term impact on the marine ecology in the area. January and February marks the spawning season for many species of fish and is also nesting time for turtles. The spill will be lethal for them.

“Right now there is no report of turtle deaths due to the oil spill. What people see along the coast are carcasses of dead turtles that float in the waters. When they come closer to the oil spill area, the sediments get settled on them and turn them into dark black turtle carcasses, creating an impression that the turtles died due to the oil spill,” said Turtle conservationist Supraja Dharini, who was in the Ennore area on Monday to assist the Coast Guard authorities.

However, Shankar, a local fisherman from the region told Newsminute that he found two dead olive ridley sea turtles.

His claim was denied by the Coast Guard officials.

“The oil has spilled over 700 metres with thickness of 0.5 inches. The fish would not have died as the oil is in the shallow waters. The turtles had died a few days back and not because of the oil spill.”

The black mass from the incident has already reached Marina beach.

A Times of India reported that as the Coast Guard lacks the ability to deal with the spill, private players have been invited to bid for the job. The Darya Ship Management agency, handling Dawn Kanchipuram, will finalise a private player to carry out the clean-up on Tuesday.

While all of this happening, where is the television outrage?