Natrajan Writes To MoD To Tackle Oil Spills

Sources in the ministry said the environment minister has written to the defence minister asking for a meeting, as the Coast Guard is currently responsible for managing the fall-out of any accident in Indian waters that leads to an oil spill.

But the environment ministry has felt that lacuna existed in the current protocol as the Coast Guard look after only pollution in the waters and not on the beachfronts and the damage arising to biodiversity such as mangroves.

In the immediate case of M V Rak, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has filed an FIR against the ship owners for causing pollution. Read the full report here.

Source: Nitin Sethi, TNN, New Delhi.