NCCR joins pollution watch on south TN coast after ship sinks off Kerala
Chennai: More than a week after a Liberia-flagged vessel sank off the Kerala coast, spilling plastic nurdles into the sea, pollution studies began along the southern Tamil Nadu coast.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
A team from the national centre for coastal research (NCCR) was stationed in Kanyakumari to collect beach and coastal water samples to assess the potential impact of the spill.
"It will be a recurring survey. Our team started collecting samples in Kanyakumari and may extend the collection up to Kudankulam. This will serve as baseline data to assess whether the accident affected our coast," said R S Kankara, director, NCCR.
"This report will serve as a supplement to the Tamil Nadu govt's ongoing assessment efforts," he added.
The collected data will be compared with time-series data from NCCR's routine coastal monitoring programme. NCCR researchers routinely monitor seawater quality under the Seawater Quality Monitoring Programme, collecting physical, chemical, and biological samples from 50 locations across the country, including seven along the TN coast.
On May 25, the container vessel MSL ELSA 3 sank about 38 nautical miles (about 70 km) off the Kerala coast, between Vizhinjam and Kochi.
The ship was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous materials such as calcium carbide, along with 84.44 tonnes of diesel and 367.1 tonnes of furnace oil.
In the days following the accident, plastic nurdles from the ship began washing up along the Kerala coast and drifting towards Tamil Nadu.
Tuticorin-based NGO Suganthi Devadasan Marine Research Institute (SDMRI) is also carrying out a comprehensive pollution study across 20 locations, starting from Neerody, a village near Tamil Nadu's southernmost tip.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Wire
an hour ago
- The Wire
Opposition Leaders Criticise Shah's Remark that Speaking English In India Will Soon Evoke Shame
Some leaders pointed to the economic value of learning English, while others recalled India's linguistic diversity. New Delhi: A number of opposition politicians on Friday (June 20) expressed criticism of Union home minister Amit Shah's remarks that soon people would feel shame for speaking in English in India, saying that learning the language is economically useful and alleging that Shah was trying to undermine India's linguistic pluralism. Speaking at a book launch in Delhi, Shah on Thursday said that 'the building of a society where those who speak English in this country will feel shame is not far away now'. A 'foreign language' cannot be used to understand 'our country, its history, its traditions and our religions', said Shah, adding to express hope that despite the difficulty in doing so, Indian society would 'once again' run the country, think, conduct research and make decisions in 'our languages'. However, Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi said English is 'as essential as your mother tongue because it will secure jobs [and] boost confidence', advocating for cherishing Indian languages while teaching English. He also alleged that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 'don't want India's poor children to learn English because they don't want you to ask questions, move forward or stand equal'. K. Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP from the Tamil Nadu-based Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party that has resisted what it says is the 'imposition' of Hindi in the state, said that the 'only thing [one] should be ashamed of' is 'imposing your will on the people and trying to destroy the pluralism of India', per a machine translation. R. Bindu, education minister of neighbouring Kerala, alleged that Shah was trying to impose Hindi when he spoke against English. The Hindu cited the Communist Party of India (Marxist) politician as saying that the home minister's remarks reflected his 'narrow politics' and, given that 'learning as many languages as possible would enhance one's knowledge', would 'narrow the global perspective of students'. P. Sandosh Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP for Kerala and member of the Communist Party of India, was quoted as saying by PTI that Shah was trying to 'stigmatise India's linguistic diversity and push the RSS-BJP's cultural majoritarianism'. Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose, who represents West Bengal in the Rajya Sabha, said Indians 'should not be 'ashamed' of ANY language'. 'Preposterous nonsense from Shri [Amit Shah]. 'English is a link language across India, [it's] aspirational, confers a global advantage and knowledge of English is demanded by millions,' she wrote on X.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Over 650 Iranian Military Personnel, Civilians Killed In Israeli Strikes
Tehran: A US-based NGO said Friday that Israel's strikes against Iran have killed at least 657 people including civilians and members of the security forces, a toll based on sources and reports in Iran. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said that at least 263 civilians had been killed nationwide since Israel began its strikes on June 13. Among these, it said it had verified the identities of more than 20 children who have been killed, mostly in Tehran. It added that 164 members of the military had also been killed. The overall death toll includes 230 people who HRANA was unable to determine whether they were civilians or members of the security forces. More than 2,000 members of the security forces and civilians had been wounded as of early Friday, it added. The group said strikes had taken place in 21 of Iran's 31 provinces. HRANA is part of the Human Rights Activists NGO, which was set up inside Iran in 2005 but later shifted to the United States in the face of repression from the Iranian authorities. It publishes dozens of reports a day, outlining human rights violations inside Iran. Israel said its campaign was aimed at halting Tehran from obtaining an atomic bomb, an ambition Iran denies having. Iranian authorities said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then. Iranian strikes launched in response have also caused damage in Israel, where at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, according to the authorities.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
HC rejects plea by IAS officer, kin seeking quashing of CBI probe into graft charge
1 2 Cuttack : The Orissa high court on Friday dismissed a writ petition filed by senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi, his wife and daughter seeking to quash a CBI investigation into alleged corruption. The court ruled that the petition was "premature and not maintainable", as the investigation was still at a nascent stage. The case stems from the arrest of a PSU executive on Dec 8 last year for allegedly accepting a Rs 10 lakh bribe from a Bhubaneswar-based real estate firm. During interrogation, Sethi's name emerged, prompting a CBI search at his residence on Feb 18 this year. The petitioners alleged procedural violations and harassment, and sought the return of seized materials. Justice S K Panigrahi, however, rejected these claims, emphasising that the extraordinary writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution cannot be misused to derail legitimate investigations. "Higher the office, greater the responsibility," he observed, noting that Sethi, as a senior bureaucrat, is expected to uphold legal integrity, not evade scrutiny. The court stressed that no chargesheet had been filed yet, and interference at this point would undermine both investigative processes and public interest. It criticised the petitioners' approach as "forum-shopping" and warned against setting a precedent that powerful individuals can shield themselves from legal accountability. The court clarified that its refusal to intervene does not equate to a presumption of guilt, and the petitioners retain full rights to defend themselves during trial. However, it maintained that mere status or reputation cannot justify halting a probe into serious allegations of public corruption. On Feb 25, Justice Panigrahi had ordered, "As an interim measure, it is directed that no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners till the next date." The interim restriction was extended from time to time and was in force till the petition was dismissed on Friday.
