Oil spill threatens India’s nesting turtles
CHENNAI, India: Hundreds of students and fishermen were working yesterday to clean up an oil spill on India’s southern coast that campaigners say threatens the turtles that nest there every year.
The Indian Coast Guard said around 35 kilometres of coastline off the southern city of Chennai had been affected by the spill which occurred when two ships carrying fuel collided last week.
Campaigners and fishermen have accused the government of being slow to contain the damage from the spill, the scale of which has only emerged in recent days.
“What ought to have been a localised incident has now become a regional one because of the culture of denial,” said Nityanand Jayaraman, a Chennai- based environmental activist.
Jayaraman told AFP it was the peak nesting season for Olive Ridley turtles, which swim to the beaches of South India to lay eggs after mating at sea.
“The key thing is not technology but honesty. You need to reveal the true extent of the damage otherwise it leads to a false sense of complacency. With oil spills long- term effects are certain,” he said.
Olive Ridleys are most abundant of all sea turtles around the world, according to WWF India, but their numbers have been declining and the species is recognised as vulnerable by the IUCN Red list. — AFP