Ennore Creek cleaning: Government misses NGT deadline

CHENNAI: Despite the southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) directing the CPCL (Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited) and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to complete the removal of oil slick from Ennore before Sunday, the agencies could not complete the work before the deadline.

An official said that 2 skimmer machines have been deployed in the cleaning work additionally.

"Four skimmers that are already in use can only remove oil slick that are 1cm thick. But the new skimmers can remove slick that are 1mm thick, " the official said.

In order to expedite the work, the impacted area has been categorised into 4 stretches for the purpose of intensive review and mitigation.

Each stretch will be taken care of by a dedicated team with the objective to complete the process of mitigation before Tuesday, the environment department said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard claimed that no oil spill was found extending into sea after December 10 as the flood water outflow into the sea through Kosasthalaiyar river was less and the oil got trapped inside the creek area which are being responded to by the contractors.

"Coast Guard has been providing necessary expert advice to CPCL and TNPCB for necessary assessment, cleaning and recovery of spilt oil from the Ennore creek area. ICG ships and helicopters have been continuously monitoring the situation and it is confirmed that there is nil egress of oil slick into the coastal area, " a statement said.

It may be noted that the NGT will hear a suo motu case pertaining to the oil spill on Monday.

Fishermen protest:

While the cleaning works are underway, fishermen from 3 villages near Ennore Creek staged a protest in Ennore demanding sufficient compensation, on Sunday.

Following the protest, KS Kandasamy, special officer appointed to monitor monsoon works in Tiruvottiyur zone, assured that the government will provide Rs. 12,500 relief to each of the affected families. Also, Rs. 10,000 to boat owners to repair them, and the compensation will be given in 2 days.

Based on the promise, fishermen called off their protest.