Two months into the chlorine gas leak at the Mumbai Port Trust, authorities are yet to fix the responsibility for the mishap — contrary to the order from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Now, a three-member committee has been formed to probe the matter and take appropriate action against the guilty. The committee comprises joint secretary of Ministry of Shipping Rakesh Srivastava, joint secretary-administration of the National Disaster Management Authority Sujata Saunik and deputy director of the ministry of environment and forest Sundar Ramanathan. The panel has been given one month to fix responsibility for the incident and figure out ways for dealing with hazardous waste lying at various ports across India.
“Mumbai Port was told about the lacuna and various problems. They have shied away from putting the responsibility on anyone,” said Srivastava.
There were about 105 unclaimed chlorine gas cylinder at the Hajibandar warehouse of the Mumbai Port Trust which had been lying in the port premises for 15 years.
The report submitted by the deputy chairman of the Mumbai Port Trust, Shreekant Singh has been forwarded to Shipping Minister G K Vasan. Singh in his recommendations and observations has said that a specific mechanism and skilled staff need to be in place to deal with hazardous cargo.
There is about 203 metric tonne of hazardous cargo lying at the Mumbai Port, comprising about 200 unclaimed consignments.