Mangrove restoration work in oil spill areas in Ennore Creek started

CHENNAI: Mangrove restoration work in oil spill areas in the Ennore Creek area has begun, said a senior official from Tamil Nadu's Environment, Climate Change and Forest Department. In the aftermath of floods due to Cyclone Michaung early this month, the oil spillage happened from the premises of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) into the Buckingham Canal, reaching Ennore Creek.

According to a press release by the state's environment department, the emergency oil recovery work in the aftermath of oil spillage in the Ennore Creek area was over on Wednesday. Close to 900 people involving trained sea cleaning agencies with the support of local fishermen completed the task.

"Mangrove restoration work in oil spill areas in Ennore Creek has begun. The area is divided into four zones. Low-speed seawater jet pipes will clean oil deposits which will be absorbed using soak pads, skimmers and oil booms and safely disposed of. The slow and laborious process to clean about 60 hectares of Mangroves but we will get there," Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forest, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Sahu, who has been leading the teams on the ground, took an overview of the affected areas with a team of officers, CPCL representatives, cleaning agencies, and impacted fishermen communities in Ennore Creek area to supervise the completion of tasks. The team observed that while the oil recovery and mitigation was over in most of the areas, deposits of oil in Mangroves needed a longer period, as it is a specialized task and has to be done carefully.

"In consultation with experts, it was decided to shift the entire focus now on cleaning oil ingress in Mangrove areas. It was further decided that for this purpose the Forest Department shall engage local fishermen through CPCL resources to undertake oil cleaning work in Mangroves with the help of smaller boats using oil boomers and soak pads. For this purpose, the Department will work on Ennore Mangroves restoration project," the release further said.

An oil slick was formed near Ennore Creek in the aftermath of cyclone Michaung on December 3. The Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, constituted a technical team on December 10 to ascertain the cause of the recent oil spillage into the Ennore Creek area. The oil spill adversely impacted people living in the nearby fishing villages.

The oil-mixed water that entered the houses of several coastal communities had spoiled their personal belongings and adversely impacted their livelihoods as the boats were found coated with oil, the release said.