In news- The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has sought response from the Centre and the State on a PIL that sought a direction for constitution of Oil Spill Crisis Management Groups at State and district levels as per the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan-2015.
About National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP):
- The NOS-DCP was originally promulgated in 1996 and subsequently updated to include additional information, latest update being in 2014.
- The Indian Coast Guard is the designated national authority for oil spill response in Indian waters under the Plan.
- It comes under the purview of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs.
Objectives of the plan:
- To establish an effective system for detection and reporting of spills;
- To establish adequate measures for preparedness for oil and chemical pollution;
- To facilitate rapid and effective response to oil pollution;
- To establish adequate measures for crew, responders, and public health and safety, and protection of the marine environment;
- To establish appropriate response technique to prevent, control and combat oil pollution and dispose-off the recovered material in an environmentally sound manner;
- To establish record-keeping procedures to facilitate recovery of costs;
- To maintain the evidence for the purpose of identifying the polluter and taking suitable administrative, civil or criminal action against the polluter.
The plan assigned task-based responsibilities to government departments and agencies. The government of every coastal State should constitute a State-level Oil Spill Crisis Management Group. It also mandated the constitution of district and local level crisis management groups in order to protect the livelihood of fishermen and marine resources.
Source: The Hindu
