Shipping ministry on Tuesday asked all ports to prepare contingency plans to deal with oil spills in future. Early this month, sea route going towards Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port remained closed for days together after collision of MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia?III resulted in oil spill.
?While Coast Guard is equipped and responsible to handle oil spills of significant magnitude, all ports may prepare themselves for addressing smaller spills preferably through contracts with agencies having expertise in oil spill response mechanism,? shipping minister GK Vasan said at a meeting of Maritime States Development Council in Chennai on Tuesday. The ministry, he said, is also devising a scheme for utilising oil cess collected by ports for mitigating oil pollution in and around ports.
In the aftermath of chlorine gas leak at Mumbai Port in July, which sent 118 people to hospital, shipping ministry is also preparing guidelines to ensure safe handling of hazardous chemicals and goods. ?These incidents (oil spill and chlorine leak) have highlighted the urgent need to enhance the disaster management capabilities and preparedness of the ports… The guidelines will be issued to major ports, state maritime boards and maritime states soon,? Vasan said.
The norms are urgently required as many major ports have hazardous materials, including exclusives, lying on their land. As reported by FE on August 11, Mumbai Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Tuticorin Port, Kolkata Dock Complex, New Mangalore Port, Kandla Port and Chennai Port have dangerous substances?some since more than a decade?despite strict government instructions that such goods should not be kept in ports. Following the success of maritime boards in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra, similar boards should be formed in other maritime states at the earliest with representation of shipping ministry, Coast Guard and Indian Navy, Vasan demanded.