Cargo vessel route through Sundarbans

The three-member investigation committee formed in the aftermath of the sinking of a coal-carrying vessel in the Shela River in the Sundarbans has put the blame squarely on the vessel operator. The probe committee has recommended that such vessels be banned from operating in the mangrove forest to avoid future accidents of this nature, and we agree with the recommendation. The Sundarbans is a world heritage site and is home to many species of flora and fauna, and it is inexplicable that vessels carrying harmful loads are plying the river with impunity at the cost of the delicate ecological balance of the forest.

The latest sinking should serve as a wakeup call for the authorities. We await the decision of the Department of Forests on what it intends to do with the report and recommendations made thereof, because MV GR Raj is not the first vessel to sink, and we suspect that unless steps are taken to limit the navigation of commercial vessels, it will certainly not be the last.

The other sticking point in these incidents is the slow pace with which agencies get into gear over a salvage operation. Back in March, we witnessed the dearth in preparedness to deal with an oil spill. The refusal to use chemical agents to contain the spill, and the sheer confusion among various agencies led to wastage of precious time. Setting up of a permanent monitoring mechanism to monitor marine vessels is imperative as is the formulation of contingency plans on how to deal with spills and sinking of vessels.