Plea in High Court to declare shipwreck a State disaster; Bench orders notice

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to the Union and Tamil Nadu governments and sought a report on a public interest litigation petition that sought the removal of plastic pellets and other hazardous materials which washed ashore along the Kanniyakumari coast from the Liberian container ship MSC Elsa 3 that sank off the Kochi coast on May 25.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete sought the response of the authorities to the joint petition filed by four CPI (ML) Liberation functionaries — S.M. Anthony Muthu, R. Justin Sundar, R. Suseela, and C. Carmel Lourdhu Boi — of Kanniyakumari district.

The petitioners said the ship sank in the Arabian Sea with 643 containers, and so far 54 containers had washed ashore along the Kerala and Kanniyakumari coasts. The containers are said to have calcium carbonate and plastic pellets. However, there had been no official statement yet on the contents.

The plastic pellets that washed ashore along the Kanniyakumari coast were a dangerous pollutant and their breaking down into nano-plastics would enter the food chain of the marine species. Fish is a staple food in Kanniyakumari. The plastic pellets in the sea could cause a prolonged and irreversible damage to the food chain, they said.

The plastic pellets were getting deposited on the seashore and polluting the environment. The containers drifting in the sea posed a threat to the fisherfolk who were advised not to venture into the sea. Given the alarming situation, the Kerala government had declared the shipwreck a State disaster, and was providing relief to the fisherfolk, they said.

The plastic pellets and other hazardous materials should be removed from the sea on a war footing, the petitioners said. They also sought a direction to the authorities to disclose the contents of the containers, declare the shipwreck a State disaster, and provide relief to the affected fisherfolk.

The court posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.