The Centre’s choice was conveyed by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Kirti Vardhan Singh, within the Lok Sabha on Monday (July 21, 2025). He was replying to a query raised by Hibi Eden, MP, on whether or not the federal government had performed or initiated an in depth EIA into the back-to-back ship accidents off the Kerala coast, together with the sinking of MSC Elsa 3 and the explosion on the Singapore-flagged vessel Wan Hai 503 off the Beypore coast on June 9.
“The EIA on the MSC Elsa 3 incident will likely be carried out in coordination with the State authorities. A complete of 66 containers had washed ashore and have since been recovered by the company appointed by the house owners of MSC Elsa 3. None of the containers contained hazardous cargo, and no injury or hazard has been reported. Around 540 metric tonnes of plastic nurdles have been collected from the Kerala coast and the southern coast of Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Singh mentioned.
In the case of Wan Hai 503, the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Directorate General of Shipping, and different authorities involved took proactive measures to comprise and mitigate any potential environmental dangers, based on the Minister.
Published – July 22, 2025 12:34 am IST
