A workshop was conducted on 16th Sep at Tiruvananthapuram to discuss potential spill risks from accidental break up of large oil tankers passing by the coast. The workshop was jointly hosted by ILDM (Dept of revenue, Govt of Kerala), SWIRE ERS and AlphaMERS.
The workshop discussed the risks, technology for detection, containment, challenges specific to the coastline, the revenue model and such related issues. Prominent experts attending the workshop were Director of International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, Secretary of Indian Mangrove Society, officials of SWIRE ERS - a major international player in spill response, MD of AlphaMERS an Indian spill responder, besides senior officials - ACS and Home Secretary Ms.Nivedita Haran, Retired secretary Ministry of Shipping Mr.Mohandas, Retired VCNS and DG of Coast Guard Vice Admiral.P.J.Jacob attended te event. Representatives of district disaster management authority, oil companies, coast guard, media and other entities interested in the subject also attended the event.
Though the core subject was oil spills, there were interesting inputs on subjects ranging from Hazardous chemical spills to disaster management preparedness as a whole.
Few important messages that came from the workshop -
There should be a common platform between agencies to share information in case of Hazardous material spills with regards to identification and dangers.
Various agencies must work in good co-ordination in the immediate aftermath of a spill.
The preparation to deal with an incident must start now.
A demo of Drone for oil spill detection formed a highlight of the event.
Brdgs
Comments
Timely