A month since the oil spill in Ennore, joint operations by the State government and the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) have removed 2.2 lakh litres of oily water and 663 tonnes of sludge from Kosasthalaiyar river.
Clean up operations were carried out in four stretches — Ennore Creek mouth to Ennore Bridge, Ennore Bridge to Railway Bridge (Kattukuppam), Railway Bridge to the entrance of Buckingham Canal, and Buckingham Canal to Sathyamurthy Nagar.
While the river has been cleaned off the surface oil from these four stretches, and Sivanpadai Veedhi to Sathyamurthy Nagar, work is still ongoing in the land area near Sathyamurthy Nagar bridge and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority’s steel yard area in Manali. In addition to this, sludge is also being removed from the shores of the wetlands and from mangroves. Fishermen have been engaged by CPCL and the State government for oil response operations.
Since December 12, 2023, a total of 2,20,040 litres of oily water and 663.5 tonnes of sludge have been removed and sent to the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited for further treatment and disposal, as per a report by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
On January 3, oil-affected mangrove stretches at Ennore Lock bridge and Pathukannu bridge area were cleaned. Fishermen also removed a thin layer of oil patches present on the water surface. These patches are being washed out from mangroves during high tide.
Meanwhile, tar balls have once again washed ashore near Pulicat. While locals say it is due to the oil spill, as per a State expert committee such oil balls are normal in all oil transport routes and areas near ports and this is not from the contamination of Ennore Creek.
Published - January 04, 2024 09:02 pm IST
