Coast Guard DG Advocates Penalties for Polluting Ships

New Delhi, Sep 7 (UNI) Coast Guard Director General Vice Admiral RF Contractor today strongly advocated penalising ships and vessels that polluted Indian waters.

Presiding over a meeting here on fighting oil spills, Admiral Contractor called for stringent implementation of pollution control measures in harbours and ports on the Indian coastline.

The Coast Guard Dg also expressed concern over the operation of ageing vessels that posed a threat to marine environment in the Indian waters. As many as 18 ships had either sunk or been grounded along the Indian coast so far this year alone, he pointed out.

He said the Indian Coast Guard would soon acquire three specialised, indigenously-built Pollution Control Vessels to tackle oil spills and other threats to marine ecology.

Some 70 delegates from various Government departments, Ports, the Oil Industry and Exploration Units and State Pollution Control Boards participated in the daylong Tenth Meeting of the National Oil Spill and Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP) and Preparedness.

The meeting deliberated upon working out synergy between various agencies and port authorities to build capacities to fight Oil spills of up to 700 tonnes.

The Indian Coast Guard -- the central coordinating agency for implementation of the NOSDCP -- has been holding regular exercises with various agencies to simulate Oil Spill Contingencies.

UNI