Amidst fear of oil spillage from a tugboat stuck in the Bay of Bengal, about 13 km from the ecologically sensitive Chilika Lake, the agency hired for the salvage operation has started pumping diesel out from the engine tank on Wednesday.
A fortnight ago, the Coast Guard had issued warning about possible oil spillage into the Chilika Lake – country’s largest brackish water lagoon - from the Malaysian vessel that got stuck on August 7.
“The salvage operation has begun and we hope it will be completed within three to four days. The barge is drifting, but there is no report of any oil spillage,” Puri District Collector Balwant Singh told over the phone.
The operation began amid rain and rough sea. “We have two components of the vessel. One is Jin Hwa 32, which is a dumb barge. It has an engine that has an oil tank having capacity to contain 30000 to 35000 litres of diesel. Both the dumb barge and tugboat are refloatable,” said Amit Saha, who is overseeing the salvage operation.
“There is no report of any oil spillage because the dumb barge has no oil tank. As part of international norms, we have to take out all the oil from the tugboat,” said Mr. Saha.
“When the vessel had started voyage, the tank had 30,000 to 35000 litres of diesel. We don’t know how much oil has been consumed so far. The exact quantity of oil left in the tank will be ascertained once all oil is pumped out. Subsequently, we will refloat both the dumb barge and tugboat and then the two will be pulled back to a safe port, which could be at Paradip, Gopalpur or Visakhapatnam,” he said.
When asked if there was any imminent danger to Chilika, Susanta Nanda, Chief Executive of Chilika Development Authority, said, “we don’t foresee any imminent threat to Chilika’s biodiversity as the vessel is situated 13 km from the lake boundary. But it is always safe to avoid any oil spillage.”
Environmentalists expressed concerns over non-shifting of the vessel to a distant place. “Spillage of oil could harm flora and fauna of the Chilika Lake. The annual congregation of migratory birds in the lake is now few months away. Besides, it is one of the largest breeding grounds of fish. If spillage takes places and makes its way to Chilika, there could be grave danger to ecology,” said Rabindranath Sahu of Ruhsikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee (RSTPC).
Mr. Sahu said that in April 2010, one vessel, Malvika, got stuck near Gopalpur and it had an adverse impact on turtle conservation that year.
