The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought the State government’s response on whether a State-level Oil Spill Crisis Management Group had been constituted in Tamil Nadu.
A Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and P. Velmurugan sought to know whether the group was functioning in the State and whether meetings were being conducted.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by G. Thirumurugan of Ramanathapuram district. The petitioner sought a direction for the constitution of Oil Spill Crisis Management Groups at State and district levels as per the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan-2015.
He said the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan-2015 was adopted in order to ensure an effective system for detection, reporting and response to oil spills. As per the Plan, the government of every coastal State should constitute an Oil Spill Crisis Management Group for management of oil pollution incidents.
The Plan assigned task-based responsibilities to government departments and agencies. It provided a framework for coordination of integrated response by various departments and agencies to protect the environment from oil pollution, he said.
Despite witnessing many oil spills, Tamil Nadu was yet to constitute the group. The Plan also mandated the constitution of district and local level crisis management groups in order to protect the livelihood of fishermen and marine resources, he said.
he hearing in the case was adjourned by six weeks.
