M A I N   N E W S

Oil spill noticed at Bombay High
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 28
As the authorities attempted to contain the fire on the Bombay High oil rig, reports here suggested that while a Pawan Hans helicopter was damaged in the fire, the Coast Guard has noticed oil spill extending 10 nautical miles in the easterly direction towards Mumbai.

A release issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, “The oil spill has the potential of spreading fast as the seas are rough.” As an emergency measure, a Dornier aircraft was undertaking aerial dispersal of oil spill dispersant for neutralising the spill, Coast Guard officials said.

The aircraft, which took off from Daman, reported that the entire Bombay high north platform had gone down completely while no damage was reported on the other three adjacent platforms probably due to activation of automatic shut-off systems.

The MoD said the pollution-response operations commenced in the morning. Mobilisation of pollution-response resources were co-ordinated by the Coast Guard with the ONGC, Mumbai Port Trust and other agencies. Three Coast Guard specialised pollution control vessels equipped with pollution-response equipment and oil spill dispersants had reached the area for oil spill containment.

“Coast Guard ships with pollution-control equipment and oil spill dispersants have reached the area and started operations to contain the oil spill,” officials said.

“The rescue operations are continuing as six ONGC divers are still feared trapped in the decompression chambers of the platform,” they said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that a Pawan Hans helicopter had been damaged in the fire. “A Pawan Hans helicopter at the oil platform had been damaged in the fire that broke out there yesterday,” Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad told reporters here.

He said the helicopter was parked at the platform and there has been no contact with it since yesterday.

The incessant rainfall has also affected Pawan Hans’ MI-172 helicopters parked at the Juhu aerodrome in suburban Mumbai, Mr Prasad said.

“Water has reached the cabin of the helicopters parked at Juhu,” he said. The Mumbai airport, which was closed since Tuesday, was opened for air traffic today.

A “very, very large” number of passengers have been stranded at the domestic and international airports in Mumbai for the past two days. Airliners have been asked by Civil Aviation Ministry to operate special flights to clear the backlog. At least 11 flights were waiting at the tarmac for take off when the airport was opened.

The decision to launch special flights was taken in the morning after the Ministry of Civil Aviation held a meeting with all the airliners operating in the country.

ONGC sets up three-member probe panel

Mumbai, July 28
The Government today set up a three-member committee headed by former ONGC Chairman S.K. Manglik to probe the cause of the massive fire that destroyed the country’s biggest oil drilling platform at Mumbai offshore.

“Former ONGC chairman S.K. Manglik will head the three- member committee which will also include former GAIL CMD S S Cheema and ONGC’s former director (Technical) Ishwari Dutt,” Union Petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters here today.

The panel would be assisted by Royal Dutch Shell which had specially trained people for incident investigation. Mr Aiyar said no time frame has been set up for the committee to submit its report.

Speaking about the effect of the incident on oil production, the minister said it would not affect the energy security of the country.

“Shortfall in production is marginal and would be made up through imports. Plans are also being made to restore 70 per cent of the production from the platform in the next four weeks,” Mr Aiyar added. — PTI