[Gulf Goans] Goa liberates coastline from monster ship

[Goa's Pride, www.goa-world.com]

Goa liberates coastline from monster ship





For over four years, a ship deformed a beautiful beach, threatened ecosystem











RAJU NAYAK 






 
 

 







 






 PANAJI, JANUARY 24, 2005: For over four years, this 20,000 tonnes of rusting metal has just been lying there, an eyesore and an environmental threat. Now, the Goa Government has finally taken the first concrete step in removing the River Princess, a ship that ran aground in June 2000 and is now wedged in one of the world�s most popular stretches of white sand near Fort Aguada in north Goa. 
Accompanied by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, State Tourism Minister Mathany Saldanha today announced that the tender to salvage the shipwreck had been allotted to a British company, Crosschem International Limited, for a sum of Rs 85 lakhs. 
































 











The task of salvaging the River Princess began today. Earlier, Saldanha had promised that the ship would go by January, or he would quit office.About a year back,
 The Indian Express had reported how the River Princess had deformed the coastline, and was an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Besides, the oil leak had ruined the beach for an entire season. 
The government contract stipulates that Crosschem salvages the ship without breaking in Goa. The highly polluting waste material will not be dumped in Goan waters. 
The tourism minister emphasised that no money would be paid to Crosschem if the work was not carried out according to these conditions. 
According to officials, the workers will first have to patch up the holes on the ship and refloat it to places like Gujarat which allow shipwrecks to be dismantled. 
While Parrikar maintained that the ship�s ownership had not been established, the state government passed a special legislation in the Assembly for protection of tourist spots. 
This gives the government the right to take over anything which has proved to be a nuisance to a place of tourist importance. 
Over the years, scientists from prestigious institutions like the National Institute of Oceanology (NIO) have often sounded the alarm bell over River Princess. 
Dr Baban Ingole, senior scientist at NIO, pointed out that even after four years since the ship was run aground, there is a sediment of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) � from which petroleum products are refined � near it. 
Scientists have also warned about the danger posed to underwater fauna off the Goan coast. 
(courtesy: The Indian Express)__________________________________________________Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com 


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