Spill hits Elephanta and Butcher

Layers of oil covered the coastlines of Elephanta Island and Butcher Island Monday,part of the spill from the collision of MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia III.

Layers of oil covered the coastlines of Elephanta Island and Butcher Island Monday,part of the spill from the collision of MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia III. Around 10 to 15 km of Elephantas coastline was covered in a thick layer,raising a stench all around and fears about the effect on plant and animal life.

We heard of the collision Saturday but had no idea of the magnitude. It was only when villagers went outdoors on Monday morning that they found the entire coastline covered in oil slick, said Sudhir Mhatre,a villager. The beach is also covered with packets of tablets,biscuits,tea bags and other material from the containers.

Butcher Island,controlled by the Mumbai Port Trust,too has its coastline covered in oil, said Chandrakant Koli,17,a local fisherman.

Whenever there is an oil spill,the effect is seen after two days when dead marine creatures are washed off the shore or start floating. There used to be oil spills earlier but these had never reached the coastline, said Vasant Gharat,a villager and a former gram panchayat member.

Elephanta Island,a UNESCO world heritage site,is around 11 nautical miles off Mumbai. It has three villages Morabunder,Rajbunder and Shetbunder and a population of around 1,200,who mostly work in one or the other of 12 Central and state government offices. They also earn from tourism. We fear the effect of the oil on plant and animal life will hamper tourism and in turn our livelihood, said Mhatre.

Villagers said several containers have been floating off the island; one dangerously hit the jetty. Villagers tied the container to the jetty.

The slick has also affected the mangroves around the island,particularly Morabunder and Rajbunder. The slick has now settled due to the low tide,but during high tide the many birds that thrive along the coastline will be severely affected, Gharat said.

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Neither the sarpanch nor the deputy sarpanch was present in the village on Monday. When contacted. deputy collector (Panvel-Raigad) Pandurang Magdum,said,The oil slick has not reached the island. We will visit the island on Tuesday. It has not hit the Uran and Mora coasts yet.

Cop drowns
Constable Ramesh Tukaram More,45,of Mumbai Sagari police station died at work in the area around the collison early Monday. His colleagues believe he had jumped from one stationary boat to another in a row at Ghariyalgodi dock and slipped on its sides and fallen into the sea. Because of the collision,the Yellow Gate police had requested the Mumbai Sagari station for personnel. Owing to the rough sea,the boat More was using had come back to the docks. senior inspector J J Jadhav of Mumbai Sagari police station said.

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