'Marine flora, fauna to have adverse impact' of MV Rak oil spill

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Despite authorities claiming that the oil spill from cargo vessel MV Rak off Mumbai coast has decreased in quantum, experts have voiced concern over the ecological impact of the spill on marine life.

"The marine biota, including flora and fauna, will certainly have negative consequences due to oil spill," Dr Swapna Prabhu, Systematic Botanist/Taxonomist with the Bombay Natural History Society, said here today.

"The coastal areas of Mumbai and some areas of Raigad have threats of oil slicks. As the oil is already evident on Juhu beach, this concern is raised," she said.

"It is very unfortunate that the oil slick is evident at the peak time of fish breeding as well as flowering and fruiting season of most of the mangrove species. Even the thin layer of oil persisting for significant time will kill marine fauna," Prabhu said.

In case the oil slick reaches mangrove patches around this coast, last year's saplings will be probably wiped out, Prabhu said.

"As this is the fruiting season, this batch of propagules if it gets contaminated with oil, will be destroyed and there will be no regeneration as a result. The consequences may affect the size of population of mangroves for long term," she said.

According to a statement by the ministry of defence here, the rate of oil spill has reduced to around 1 tonne per hour, as compared to 1.5-2 tonnes per hour on Sunday.

This has been confirmed by an hour-long aerial recce of the oil spill area in the Arabian Sea off south Mumbai conducted by the Indian Coast Guard on Monday morning.

A defence spokesman said the oil slick is visibly thin and can be seen as a broken silvery sheen extending upto two miles from the site where the cargo carrier sank on Thursday afternoon.

However, some oil patches have also been sighted as far as 12 nautical miles from the sunken vessel.

Three coast guard teams, comprising 30 personnel, are assisting the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and other authorities in identifying and analysing the areas affected by the oil spill.

Laden with 60,000 tonnes of coal and 340 tonnes of fuel and diesel, the Rak sank on Thursday afternoon, raising apprehensions of an ecological hazard.

The 30 crewmen aboard - all Indonesians, Jordanians and Romanians - were rescued in a coordinated effort by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

Two top officials of the cargo vessel were on Saturday arrested and later released on bail by a Mumbai court.

The duo - Jordanian Capt. Arkan Younis, 36, and Romanian chief engineer Eonascho Eon, 54 - were nabbed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 336, pertaining to endangering life or personal safety of others.