Kendrapara: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to Collector and SP of Puri and Secretary of Shipping Ministry over the Malaysian cargo ship (JIN HWA 32) that landed on the shores of Chilika on August 7.
The cargo ship, which had run aground off the Chilika Lake near Rajhans, was finally towed away into deep waters after hours of effort on September 16. The ship enroute Visakhapatnam from Bangladesh had drifted towards the Odisha coast due to a storm in the Bay of Bengal and a technical snag and got stuck near the mouth of Chilika at Rajhans, a thin stretch of sand in the lagoon. There were eight people in the ship – 7 Malaysians and 1 Indian.
Acting on the petition of rights activist Akhand, the apex rights panel directed the officials concerned to submit Action Taken Report (ATR) in the case within four weeks.
“If the report is not received within the stipulated time, the Commission shall be constrained to invoke a coercive process u/s 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 for personal appearance of the concerned authorities,” the order stated.
The petitioner had expressed concern over spillage of oil from the vessel and the threat it posed to the eco-sensitive coastal zone of Chilika and coastal Odisha. The ship contained 30,000 litres of diesel, 1,000 litres of lube oil and 200 litres of hydraulic oil.
The Puri district administration had issued notice to the owners of Jin Hwa 32 on August 29 to extract oil safely from it and take the ship away from Odisha shores. Later, nearly 32,000 litres of oil were salvaged through a 700-metre long pipe from the ship by a team from Bangladesh.
Akhand alleged that since there was no harbour nearby and the vessel was not moored, it started tilting. Soon the vessel’s hull went deep down the sandy coast leading to oil slick.
“The oil spill will harm the environment and sea. It may also impact human beings. The rights of the people are violated by the inaction of the authorities. Fishermen living near the lake and coast are worried how the oil slick would affect their livelihood,” argued the petitioner.
“There should also be an inquiry about how ship drifted towards Odisha and whether it has valid registration, fitness and legal permission to transport cargo,” he added.
