India to make ship owners pay for Mumbai oil spill

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for a report from the Shipping Ministry on the oil spill that continues to ooze out of Panamanian cargo vessel MSC Chitra which collided with another cargo vessel MSC Khalijia on Saturday.

The Centre said legal action has been initiated against the owners of the two cargo ships.

“Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board has already initiated legal action against the owners of the ships,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour while responding to members’ concerns over the issue.He said the government would make a detailed statement on the issue in Parliament tomorrow.

Two Panamanian cargo ships - MSC Chitra and Merchant Vessel Khalijia - collided off the Mumbai coast on Saturday causing an oil-spill from Chitra.

Raising the issue, Shantaram Luxman Naik (Congress) said the incident has put the fishing community of the area in “deep trouble” and asked why there was not even a preliminary statement from the concerned authority.