Pipe burst results in oil spill from thermal plant into Sutlej

Ropar (Punjab), Apr 27 (ANI): Thousands of liters of oil drained into Sutlej River in Punjab after a pipe burst at one of a unit of a thermal plant.

Coal furnace oil from the Ropar Thermal Plant has entered the international wetland and river Sutlej in the region of Ropar, after a pipe busted on Sunday.

This thick oil covering atop Sutlej waters in the International wetland area is spread on over a gigantic 1365 hectares.

The trouble started when furnace oil from the thermal plant nearby flowed via the Ghanauli drain into the pristine waters of the Sutlej.

The oil slick is threatening the aquatic as well as other forms of life in the wetland renowned for its migratory birds.

Environmentalists say that the recent oil spill can have adverse effects on the quality of life in this international wetland but nothing has been done till now to avoid it.

"Such type of leakage whether it is the slurry from the thermal plant, is continuously going on for the last one or two decades and nobody has taken serious notice of it," said Jaspreet Singh, an environmentalist.

Meanwhile, the authorities are trying to salvage the situation by blocking the flow of water from the drain near the plant.

After blocking the flow, efforts are being made to remove oil from the water.

The Deputy Chief Engineer (civil) of the Ropar Thermal Plant, S C Chabba said that such type of incidents are unpredictable so they are trying their level best to avert it.

"The spill out happened due to leakage from oil pipe-circulation lines from unit 3. Such sort of accidents cannot be predicted. Although all care is being taken by maintaining the pipeline so that no circulations can take place but these cannot be averted despite best efforts," said Chabba.

The Ropar wetland is a home to as many as 50 species of flora and fauna. Different types of fish, snakes and other migratory birds have made this wetland their home. But it seems their life is under threat from these oil spills. (ANI)