eastern region oil spill disaster contingency plan - Indian Coast Guard

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and 19 deg 40 min N. Eastern Region is a major maritime zone of India. These
are the Major and minor Ports ports are situated at east coast of Visakhapatnam
caters to Madhya Pradesh and Orissa too. Andhra Pradesh is known as the River
state of South India comprising 09 coastal districts. The Major Port in the state is
Visakhapatnam. The minor ports are Kakinada, Krishnapatnam, Vadarevu,
Machilipatnam, Narsapur, Bhimunipatnam and Kalingapatnam. Andhra Pradesh
being a coastal state with major vibrant port such as Visakhapatnam and
developing ports with oilrigs such as Kakinada needs to have a Disaster
Contingency Plan to preserve and protect marine environment, and prevent and
control marine pollution by many oil tankers that transit daily all along the
coastline of approximately 974 kms. Since one of the main revenues of the state
is from marine resources, it is all the more reasonable to have a Disaster
Contingency Plan at hand as a pre-emptive exercise. The high risk areas such as
oilrigs off Kakinada, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) such as wildlife sanctuaries
in Coringa and Krishna, bird sanctuary such as Pulicat, and deltaic mangroves
situated on the Krishna - Godavri delta region need to be protected by such
timely measures that their assets are protected in times of major oil spills. The
oil pollution from blow-out, collision, stranding, and other marine accidents can
threaten marine life in the inter-tidal zones, fisheries, seabirds, recreational
beaches and tourism with subsequent loss of revenue. The threat potential to
the Andhra Pradesh coast is considerable taking into account the movement of
tankers and the operations of oil platforms in the Ravva oil fields and the
Krishna- Godavri basin. A major spill could affect several areas around the coast
including the ports, thereby making it essential to coordinate activities amongst
the number of agencies involved. The density of merchant traffic especially oil
tankers entering/leaving the Ravva oil field is substantial.
Coast of Orissa
2.45. Paradip is a major port, which is involved in transfer of oil using Single
Point Mooring (SPM). A minor spill could affect several areas around the coast, in
port area making it essential to coordinate activities, amongst a numbers of
agencies. The density of merchant traffic especially oil tankers bunkering and oil
tankers coming to Paradip has increased consequent to the installation of the
SPM and hence Orissa coast has become a high risk area with respect to oil spill.
Coast of West Bengal