Thousands are cleaning up the oil spill in Chennai

Since the oil spill in the coast of Chennai, occurred on Sunday, it is only oil and more oil, whether it is the Marina beach or the distant coast of Tiruvallur. Thousands of people, including many cost guards, officials,workers, fishermen and locals are now involved in cleaning up the oil and limiting the damage.

As the oil is contaminated with saline, it is not sent to the refinery but to the hazardous waste processing facility.

The oil spill occurred near Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL) in Ennore, north of Chennai, when two cargo ships collided. Since then extensive damage has been done to the entire coastline and many fishes and turtles have breathed their last.

Environmental activist Nityanand Jayaraman told the media that the authorities messed up after the accident. He said there was no immediate response to the spill.

The district collector told news agency ANI today that while 45 metric tons of oil mixture has been removed, 20 metric tons will be removed by the evening.