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Probe into naphtha consignment needed: Oppn to Goa govt

Panaji, Oct 31


The Opposition in Goa on Thursday demanded a state government probe into the ongoing controversy surrounding a stranded naphtha tanker, with opposition leader Digambar Kamat questioning how the malfunctioning tanker arrived in the state and for what purpose.

It was "mysterious" that the only two industrial units who purchased the inflammable gas had stopped production and demanded that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant clarify whom the consignment of nearly 2,500 tons of naphtha really belonged to and which company had requisitioned it in Goa, Kamat said.



"Government should first find out who ordered this naphtha... Why was the naphtha being imported in Goa? Who was importing it for what purpose? These are the questions which are still unanswered. Government should go into it," Kamat told reporters on Thursday.

The tanker had embarked from Pakistan with the cargo of naphtha and was enroute to Colombo in Sri Lanka, when an accident rendered the tanker's engine non-functional. The tanker was later towed to Goa's Mormugao Port Trust, the state's only major port for discharge of the naphtha and repairs.

The unmanned tanker Nu Shi Nalini ran aground last Saturday (October 26) on the rocky shelf off Panaji after it was caught in a storm off the state, and has not moved position since.

A multi-agency operation, involving the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Director General Shipping, the Mormugao Port Trust and other state agencies, was subsequently launched to transfer the naphtha and nearly 50 tons of oil and 19 tons of diesel to other vessels.

The operation is, however, delayed due to stormy weather and onsite mishaps, which include the accidental loss at sea of a hydraulic pump which was being ferried to the crash site.

Kamat also said that Goa faced an ecological risk, in case of leakage of the naphtha gas along the shoreline.