Published: 28th January 2021
#ThrowBackToday: Revisiting the ecological disaster that was the 2017 Ennore oil spill
Today in #TBT, we give you the details of all things that conspired together to make the 2017 Ennore oil spill happen and a few details from the report that followed. Today is also Data Privacy Day
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The spill | (Pic: Express)
When ships Dawn Kanchipuram and the BW Maple collided, an oil spill of 251.46 tonnes occurred off Ennore, a neighbourhood in Chennai on January 28, 2017. Came to be known as the 2017 Ennore oil spill, it took 5,700 people, including citizen volunteers, to clear the affected area of 3,70,000 square feet as blobs of oil were found in Puducherry too. The aquatic life took the biggest hit and over 100 olive ridley turtles were lost to the spill during their peak nesting season.
READ ALSO: #ThrowBackToday: Meet the man behind Ikea who passed away three years ago today
Eleven months after this ecological disaster, the report by the Directorate General of Shipping pegged the loss to human error. The pilots were fatigued, tardy trainees were on lookout duty, tracking on radar was slacking and anchors weren't used to avert the disaster. Basically, everything conspired to make a perfect recipe for disaster. Even the disaster response was delayed because the quantum of the leak was underestimated.
It is also...
January 28 also happens to be Data Privacy Day, a much-needed observation in the light of WhatsApp policy, though it has been delayed now. Today is also have Fun at Work Day! And if you pick the right field, career path or company, every day is a fun day at work!
