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| MV wisdom at Juhu beach in Mumbai |
The state government and various agencies are still groping in the dark as they try and deal with the question of what to do with MV Wisdom, the cargo ship that ran aground off Juhu beach.
The Director General of Shipping has issued a notice to the owners of MV Wisdom to remove the ship from Juhu beach.
“We have asked a salver to do a survey. The ship is stuck in the sand and not between rocks. It requires a few tugs with strong ropes,” said S D Agnihotri, director general of shipping. But the Coast Guard differs on how to remove the ship from the spot.
Coast Guard Regional Operations and Plans officer Arun Singh said, “The easiest and most cost effective way is to cut the ship with the help of professional salvers and take it away from here.”
In 1997, another ship, Zheng Dong, with nearly 250 metric tonnes of oil washed ashore off Carter Road
The suburban collectorate at Bandra too had stepped in and issued notices to the owners not to set up a floatel or a hotel amidst mangroves.
This time, Collector Nirmal Deshmukh said that MV Wisdom could be pulled out of the sand using tugs. “Technology has improved since 1998 when the Zheng Dong was cut off at Bandra.”
However, the state environment department does not think the ship is a threat or could spark off an ecological disaster. “She has only four metric tonnes of oil. Besides, the removal of the ship is being looked after by the DG Shipping and Mumbai Port Trust,” said a senior government officer.
There have been no meetings at the state level to tackle the problem, though Juhu residents have registered protests. “The place has turned into a sightseeing spot. But we will not allow the salvers to break the ship at Juhu beach. We don’t want to turn the beach into the Alang shipbreaking yard,” said Adolf D’Souza, corporator from Juhu.
The 9,000 tonne vessel was being towed from Colombo
Source: Mumbai Mirror. By Yogesh Naik. Tuesday, 14 June 2011
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