Question : Environmental Impacts of Oil Spill

(a) whether the oil spill has polluted fragile coastal ecology and marine biodiversity;
(b) if so, the details along with ecological and environmental impacts thereof;
(c) whether there is urgent need to update the existing protocols to ensure better coordination among various agencies for on and off-shore impacts of oil spill and if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken by the Government in this regard;
(d) whether oil spillage also affects mangroves and the fishermen and if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether there is need to provide the compensation to affected fishermen; and
(f) if so, the details thereof and the remedial steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a)&(b) Oil spills adversely impact marine and coastal environment leading to mass mortality of flora and fauna, choking of highly mobile species like crabs, clogging of water canals, loss of foraging grounds for shore birds and loss of nesting grounds for turtles etc. The residual oil from spills can settle down vertically in the sea-bed for prolonged durations causing long-term adverse effects on the benthic environment. Further, oil spills also affect port infrastructure, harbours, beaches, wildlife and fisheries etc.

(c) The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is nodal agency for dealing with incidents of oil spills within the territorial limits of India. The ICG has developed a National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) for responding to Oil Spill accidents. The NOS-DCP is a comprehensive tool which provides a framework of co-ordination for integrated response by various governmental agencies to protect the environment from deleterious effects of pollution. The ICG revises the NOS-DCP periodically in consultation with stakeholders and the last revision was done in 2015.

(d) The mangroves and fishermen community are affected by near-shore large scale oil spills. Oil spills can reach estuaries by water currents leading to poor growth or death of mangroves. The presence of tar balls on beaches affect the fishing space as well as the market price of fish stocks thereby affecting the livelihood and economic interests of the fishermen adversely.

(e)&(f) The Ministry of Agriculture and Family Welfare has notified the National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017 to ensure the health and ecological integrity of marine resources within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) through sustainable harvests of these resources. Under the provisions of this policy on ‘Fisher Welfare, Social Security Nets & Institutional Credits’, oil spills are considered as manmade calamities and the fishing communities are admissible for support/assistance for restoration of their livelihoods.

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