TN oil spill: 60 tonnes of oil sludge collected so far, says Fisheries Minister

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Feb. 2 (ANI): As the Tamil Nadu Government is currently engaged in clearing oil spill, caused due to a collision between two cargo ships near the Kamarajar Port, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on Thursday said around 60 tonnes of oil sludge has been collected, while efforts are on to collect the remaining 20 tons. "As soon as we got the information all the administrative machinery had a meeting with chief secretary and with concerned port authorities and all departments. Around 15 departments are involved in this and around 1025 employees are working non-stop," Jayakumar told ANI. "Till now 60 tonnes of oil has been collected and only 20 more tons is remaining," he added. Responding to rumours that marine life has been affected due to the oil spill, Jayakumar said, "We collected various samples of fish in Marina, Pattinapakkam and Mahabalipuram beaches. We sent those to lab to test to see whether fish have been contaminated or not. They said it was perfectly fine, it is consumable." The incident took place on January 28 when 'M T BW Maple', with a flag of 'Isle of Man', was leaving after emptying Liquefied Petroleum Gas and M T Dawn, Kanchipuram, loaded with petroleum oil lubricant, was on its way to berth at the Ennore port. (ANI)