Mumbai Oil Spill: Adani to Pay 5 Crore, Qatari Company 100 Crore

Five years after a sinking ship dumped oil in the sea near Mumbai, the responsible companies have to pay.

Civil defence personnel clean the slicked shores of Elephanta Island on the outskirts of Mumbai 12 August, 2010. Image for representation purposes only. (Photo: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

Five years after a ship sank off the coast of Mumbai, spilling oil at a rate of seven to eight tonnes per day, the National Green Tribunal fined Qatari company Delta Shipping Marine Services SA Rs 100 crore.

The ship was carrying more than 60,000 tonnes of coal, 290 tonnes of fuel and 50 tonnes of diesel, according to the court order. Coal on the ship was partially owned by the Adani group, which was also charged in the case.

Oil was found as far as 12 nautical miles from its origin, the M.V. RAK ship. Mangroves and marine life along Mumbai’s coast are reportedly damaged.

They have a liability to pay for their default, negligence and the pollution that they have already caused on the basis of the Polluter Pays Principle.

National Green Tribunal Order

Containers threaten to slip-off from the deck of damaged cargo ship MSC Chitra in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast 9 August, 2010. Image for representational purposes only. (Photo: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

The Adani Group, which had 60,054 tonnes of coal on the ship, was fined Rs 5 crore for environmental damage caused.

The amount paid shall be utilised for restitution and restoration of the damage done as well as to ensure that no further pollution results from the sunken ship and the cargo.

National Green Tribunal Order

The spill exacerbated damage caused by another oil spill in 2010, when two ships collided off the same coast.

The Qatari ship is yet to be moved since it sunk in 2011.