Oil spill from M V Rak reduces; mop-up operation on

Mumbai, Aug 9 (PTI) Central and state authorities on
Tuesday sped up the mop-up operation 'Paryavaran Suraksha' as
oil spill from sunken cargo vessel MV Rak off the Mumbai coast
reduced to half a ton per hour.
Coast Guard (CG) ships engaged in the operation have been
able to contain spread of oil within five nautical miles from
the sunken carrier, sources said.
However, coastal waters and beaches around Juhu, Thane
creek and Uran are likely to be affected by the oil spill,
they said.
Coast Guard ships Sankalp, Samudra Prahari, Amrit Kaur
and a Dornier aircraft continue to monitor the situation.
A Coast Guard helicopter undertook an aerial assessment
of the extent of oil pollution at sea and along the coast and
observed that oil slick area has been considerably reduced, an
official release said.
State and Central agencies have joined hands in
containing the impact of the oil spill. The Chairman of
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is in Mumbai to oversee
the efforts.
The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) is
monitoring the habitats to study the impact of oil spill on
biodiversity, while the Regional Centre of NIO in Mumbai is
regularly collecting water samples to assess the impact of
oil.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences is using the Oil Spill
Modelling and Trajectory Prediction System to generate likely
trajectory scenarios for the prediction of movement of the
spill and its spreading direction.
Model outputs indicated that coastal waters and beaches
around Juhu, Thane creek and also Uran are likely to be
affected by the oil spill.
It takes about 48 hours for the untreated oil patches to
reach the shore from the spill location.
Tar balls have been reported on Dadar Chowpatty and Band
Stand. Beach cleaning is being coordinated by Coast Guard
Teams deployed on affected sites.
The Panama-flagged MV Rak, which was on its way from
Indonesia's Tutung to Dahej in Gujarat with 60,000 tonnes of
coal, sank on August 4 off the city coast.
A 30-member crew of Indonesian, Jordanian and Romanian
nationalities on its board was rescued by the Indian Navy and
Coast Guard personnel before it sank.