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No Fear No Favour

Massive Oil spill has hit Chennai hard, Indian Coast Guard cleans up the Oil Spill.

On Saturday, two cargo ships collided off at Kamajar forth in Encore coast, one of them is an oil-tanker spills tons of oil near the coast.

As a result, the beautiful coasts of Chennai are now ruined, and the beach lovers can only see Oil swirling in the water. Not only that, the thick layer ofshorelinespill has developed near the coastline and it has been thickening ever since.

Basically, there is Oil Everywhere.

What Exactly has happened?

The incident occurred on Jan 28 at 4 am when vessel ‘MT BW Maple’ was leaving the port after emptying Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and MT Dawn, Kanchipuram. Loaded with petroleum oil lubricant, it was on its way to the berth at the Ennore port. The ships collided and a massive disaster ensued.

To fight the black wave, both men and machines have joined hands to remove the oil spill. Hundreds of Coast Guard personnel and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board volunteers are manually scooping out oil with their hands. Three super suckers (truck-mounted machines used to clean silt from drains ) has been deployed but they have also failed to pump out the sludge.

The oil spilling is thickening everyday and is affecting both Humans and Marine life alike. The sea water is completely blackened and the marine life creatures like fishes and turtles were dying, several turtles coated with Black oil were found dead near the shore line, environmental experts are worried that the sea water will now have less oxygen for aquatic species to survive.

Not, only aquatic species but fisherman business was also affected by the mishap. TimesNow, reported that Ennore Cooperative Society President Venkatesh has been helping Kamarajar port authorities remove the sheets of oil that have collected near the shore. For the last four days, Venkatesh along with several fishermen who depend on the sea for a living, have been aiding the clean-up following the oil spill near the Chennai coast.

For several fishermen who have gathered to help authorities, this is reportedly a way to make ends meet, given that they cannot go out fishing. “We have to remove the oil so that we can get on with our lives,” says SA Vignesh, Meenavar Makkal Munani Katchi chief. “People are scared to buy fish from us. Let these people at least earn some money this way. Since the oil is in a salt water, nothing will happen to us,” he adds.

It’s not good for health too. One Oil experts advised People to not go near Beaches as the Benzene compound is mixed with the water, which is very harmful to skin. Despite this, port authorities have not issued any formal advisory for the people who live near the coastline.

Port Authorities, NGO workers and Fishermans all are now working hard to remove the thick layers from the sea. People are also questioning the port authorities’ way to handle the situation.

People are pointing out the less media coverage about the issue as well.

BY: Saket Sharma

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