Mumbai: The oil spill off Mumbai coast has now reached the mangroves coating them black and endangering the fragile eco system. After the oil leak, the danger of lethal contamination is now emerging as the big threat.
The bottles with hazardous chemicals were found washed ashore on the Navakhar beach near Mumbai after they had fallen overboard from MSC Chitra. The discovery has triggered panic in the area.
Till now 45 chemical bottles have been recovered. The bottles bear the signs of 'danger' and 'POISON' and contain a toxic fumigant. They had been loaded on to 36 containers with each container given a number when they were loaded on MSC Chitra.
Now several badly mangled containers have swept ashore. At least 300 are still drifting dangerously in the Arabian Sea hindering shipping.
"Navy has taken mapping of that particular area. So that they know these containers are lying in the path and they will try to workout an area through which ships can pass through," said Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.
Sources say some of the containers full of chemicals were kept on the deck of MSC Chitra which on collision fell into the sea and their location is still unknown. But if the marine life comes in direct contact with the chemicals it could prove fatal.
-- Photo on link.
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