Oil Tanks India

NEW DELHI: The tar balls floating up to Goa beaches and blighting the picture-perfect tourism hot spot have again brought to the fore how weak the environment and liability laws are in India when it comes to checking maritime pollution.

The recent collision of two cargo ships off the Mumbai coast, and the consequent oil spill had made the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for the first time to look at the lacunae in the existing laws and, to their dismay, sources admit, it found that the legislative frame in its present form is too easy to breach and prosecution almost non-existent.

Pretty much nothing, the experts and officials accept. Under the Environment Protection Act, the omnibus eco-protection law, if a culprit is prosecuted and the crime is proved, the penalty is up to Rs 1 lakh.

Even if this was some hazardous material spilled by a rogue ship hurting people or even causing death, the Public Liability Insurance Act could only ensure a pittance to the people. The law, at best, provides for reimbursement of medical expenses incurred up to a maximum of Rs 12,500 in each case. For fatal accidents the relief is Rs 25,000 per person in addition to reimbursement of medical expenses if any.

Legal loopholes barrier to curbing maritime pollution - Times of India

The popular winter sun destination of Goa faces a tourism disaster after an unidentified ship dumped tons of waste oil into the sea off western India.

Tar balls have started washing up on the some of the area's most visited beaches forming solid six-inch layers of oil on the sand, just a month before peak tourist season begins.

Scores of civic workers are using brooms to collect and clear the debris, but more tar is washing ashore all the time, said Swapnil Naik, Goa's top tourism official.

Indian navy and coastguard vessels are trying to trace the offending ship, which is believed to have dumped burnt oil about three days ago, said Aleixo Sequeira, the state's environment minister.

Goa beaches hit by dumped oil just before peak season begins - Daily Mail

Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal National Joint Secretary, Federation of All India Petroleum Traders which represents over 38,700 Petroleum Dealers and Traders across India Wednesday stated at a Press Conference here that the federation has called for an indefinite all India strike from 20th September, 2010 under the Presidentship of Ashok Badhwar National President, Federation of All India Petroleum Traders - FAIPT.

Grewal stated that Dealers have been forced to take this extreme step as Union Government is not paying any heed to their genuine demands for a long time. Grewal said Dealers and Traders have been bleeding profusely due to inadequate margins and rise in operational expenditure. Evaporation or Leakage of fuel oil takes away 1% of the 2% margin being provided by the Oil Companies on the Sales of Fuel Oil. Rest of the margins are now been taken away with the rise in Wages or Salaries; hike in Electricity, Water & Sewage Charges; increase in Expenditure towards Interest which may be attributed due to rise in Capital requirement due to rise in Fuel Prices.

Grewal aggrieved that commissioning of New Retail Outlets (NROs) by the competing PSU Oil companies around existing Retail Outlets against the orders of Ministry of Petroleum and Honourable High Courts is another rationale for the above call for Nationwide Strike. Grewal added that commissioning of such NROs not only burdens PSU Oil companies as the site is generally leased and cost of construction, dispensing machines and underground tanks etc are borne by the company but also doesnt serves any Public Utility as another Retail Outlet is serving people in that area. It only deprives the dealers or traders off 2 square meals, they were managing somehow.

Grewal added that the oil companies shall follow reciprocal system of quality checks as while delivering the products they only mention density of the product being delivered on the Invoice whereas they conduct innumerable tests on the samples they collect from the Retail Outlets/Petrol Pumps which is discriminatory and illogical. There should be a common and a reciprocal system to establish quality of the product being delivered to the Retail Outlet.

Petrol pump dealers all over India to go on an indefinite strike from September 20 - Punjab Newsline

PANAJI, India — Wave after wave of tar balls floated ashore Wednesday on the renowned Goa beaches after a ship dumped tons of waste oil off India's western coast, officials said.

Semisolid lumps of oil formed layers up to six inches deep (15 centimeters deep) on beaches in the popular tourist destination. Scores of civic workers used brooms to collect and clear the oily debris, but still more tar balls were washing ashore about three days after officials believe a ship dumped burnt oil at sea.

Indian navy and coast guard vessels were trying to trace the ship, said Aleixo Sequeira, the state's environment minister. He declined to say what action would be taken when the vessel is found.

Ships regularly clean their fuel tanks and discharge the waste oil at sea, but this case involved careless dumping that exceeded all proportions, say scientists at India's National Institute of Oceanography, located in Goa.

Tar balls coat Indian beaches after ship dumps oil - The Associated Press

Economist book of the year in 2008) catalogues the adventures of the crew of the Ibis, a slave ship turned able vessel in the opium wars. Mr Ghosh's book has a grand Dickensian feel, encompassing men and women from different walks of life, speaking in different accents and dialects. The places are carefully drawn in dusty Indian technicolour, the characters are so lovingly rendered that when you re-encounter them it feels as though you are meeting old friends.

Economist book of the year in 2008) catalogues the adventures of the crew of the Ibis, a slave ship turned able vessel in the opium wars. Mr Ghosh's book has a grand Dickensian feel, encompassing men and women from different walks of life, speaking in different accents and dialects. The places are carefully drawn in dusty Indian technicolour, the characters are so lovingly rendered that when you re-encounter them it feels as though you are meeting old friends. "Sea of Poppies" is an adventure story, but it is also a book about opium, as the title implies. Though there are references to the seedy dockside haunts in London and Canton that confirm standard perceptions of opium use in the 19th-century, Mr Ghosh also sketches the farming, production and trade of the drug. The images of poverty, violence, corruption and addiction are startling, and also woefully familiar .

Named for the hero of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", an expert in the power of books and the arts, this blog features literary insight and cultural commentary from our correspondents, and includes our coverage of the art market.

Transporting fiction - The Economist (blog)