Threat recedes, no new areas hit

The pollution control board on Tuesday said the oil leak from the sunken merchant vessel (MV) Rak had not affected new areas. The officials also did not find any fresh oil deposits at Juhu beach. However, three to four silvery patches where noticed close to Dadar beach and Bandra Bandstand.

The pollution control board on Tuesday said the oil leak from the sunken merchant vessel (MV) Rak had not affected new areas. The officials also did not find any fresh oil deposits at Juhu beach. However, three to four silvery patches where noticed close to Dadar beach and Bandra Bandstand.

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“Oil has not reached new areas since Monday. The rate of the oil leaking from the ship has reduced (from 1 tonne to 0.5 tonne per hour),” said YB Sontake, regional officer, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.

On Tuesday, the oil spill reduced from 12 nautical miles to five nautical miles around the wreck site. “While the reduction in the rate of spill is good news, we don’t know whether all the oil from the ship has emptied out,” said AB Inamdar, professor, Indian Institute of Technology — Bombay.

The cargo ship, carrying 60,054 metric tonne of coal and 344 metric tonne of three types of oil, sank about 25 nautical miles from Mumbai on August 4. Traces of oil were found on Juhu, Gorai, Awas and Kihim beaches.