The grounded tanker MT Nu-Shi Nalini with 2,500 metric tonnes of naphtha in its belly finally left Dona Paula close to midnight on Wednesday and is now anchored at Mormugao Port Trust. While the residents of Dona Paula and people in the vicinity heave a sigh of relief, the focus of attention has shifted to the port town of Vasco. The fear of naphtha leaks and its feared aftermath has returned to haunt Vasco eight years later. If we may recall, Vasco was hit by a major fire in the naval area at Varunapuri, Mangor in August 2011 due to a suspected naphtha leak.
Even as Nalini has quietly made its exit, the controversy over naphtha it carries along is far from over. The question that is raised now: Is it safe to keep the naphtha in the ship, or is it better to transfer it to storage tanks? Urban Development Minister Milind Naik has protested transfer of naphtha in the containers of Ganesh Benzoplast Limited at Sada. But per se, there are no justifiable reasons to believe that transfer could be riskier than storing it in the ship.
Ganesh Benzoplast is a licenced company having its facility and known to be handling liquid cargo. They are known for their expertise in liquid cargo and have transferred naphtha in the past. For the moment, GBL remains MPT’s best bet because the condition of the ship is questionable and ship-to-ship transfer could not be a safe option.
Interestingly, as protests over transfer of naphtha gain momentum, the opponents and Milind have remained mum over bigger risks in and around the port town. There is a massive ammonia storage tank which is positioned close to Milind’s residence, and there are also huge oil tanks of HPCL, BPCL and IOC. Why is it that safety of people has never been an issue here?
People cannot be used to settle personal scores or for vested interests. There needs to be solid reasoning behind moves to stall the process. The government needs to intervene once again and get to the bottom of the issue. If there are apprehensions over safety, there must be experts engaged to green-flag the safety parameters before the process begins. Ganesh Benzoplast is expected to offload the liquid cargo within two days and may appear confident about its facility. Still, there can’t be any risks taken in a highly-sensitive area like Vasco.
While the dust settles on Nalini, there must be responsibility fixed and the guilty brought to justice. People in and around Dona Paula were exposed to 48 days of anxiety and turmoil. Their safety was at stake. The naphtha-laden Nalini was like a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode and cause massive damage to life and property. Goa’s maritime faced one of its worst nightmares.
It’s time to scrape the bottom of the barrel for answers. There is still no clarity on how the distressed ship was allowed to enter MPT. There is no clarity on how MPT took such a risk despite knowing that the ship’s anchor is weak. The story of ill-fated Nalini is far from over.
