Chennai: Submersible sucker machines help extract oil

Chennai: Two days after the oil spill from two tankers near Ennore, with Coast Guard teams busy cleaning the site, the vast and thick layer of crude remains spread across the bay and the coast.

“We have cleaned it since Sunday 4.30 pm, and work is still remaining. On Sunday, we used a pollution control machine to separate the oil and suck it out, but it wasn’t helping,” said one among the team of 40-odd Coast Guard’s Pollution Response Team.

“On Monday, we resumed work using a submersible sucker which has been quite helpful as we have been able to extract 1,500 litres of oil by 1 pm,” he added. Nobody has an estimate of how much oil was spilt and exactly how long could the process take.

As his team remains engaged in removing the oil, senior members of the Coast Guard are in touch with a private firm from Delhi, who has been helping with inputs on how to deal with the situation.

The Coast Guard, which was utilising two submersible sucker machines for the work, plans to clear oil from other areas stretching to the Chennai Port after cleaning this part of the coast.

“The Pollution Control Board and Chennai corporation are supposed to undertake coast cleaning, but due to lack of manpower and equipment, we are assisting them in the job,” said a senior Coast Guard official requesting anonymity.

Pollution control board officials were not available for a comment. Coast Guard personnel added that the work is expected to take a few more days, as it is not an easy task to separate the thick layer of oil from water.