The UN representative in Sri Lanka has said that the X-Press Pearl fire and sinking has caused “a significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances into the ecosystem.
In a news report from Colombo, news agency AP said: "the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the capital Colombo has caused “a significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances into the ecosystem."
The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl ship that was sailing between India and Sri Lanka caught fire on May 21 and eventually began to sink on June 02.
The UN said it was coordinating international efforts and helping Sri Lanka in assessing the damage, recovery efforts and preventing such disasters in the future. Sri Lanka had also approached other international organisations to assist it in evaluating the environmental damage as the ship was carrying chemicals, acid as well as plastic pellets.
“An environmental emergency of this nature causes significant damage to the planet by the release of hazardous substances into the ecosystem,” UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said in a statement late Saturday. "This in turn threatens lives and livelihoods of the population in the coastal areas”, reported news agency AP.
Earlier, Sri Lankan experts had told India Narrative about the large-scale environmental damage dur to the fire on board the ship. Prof. Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of oceanography from the University of Western Australia, said: “The plastics last forever, so the impact will be for many decades to come.”
He had said that the impact of the disaster will be geographically vast. The damage to the Indian Ocean will stretch from, “Somalia to Indonesia, including Maldives,” adding that both sides of the Indian coastline will suffer due to the ship.
The Indian Ocean island nation is a tourist spot and is known for its pristine beaches. For Sri Lanka, this was the worst-ever environmental disaster. In a bid to contain the damage, the government deputed soldiers along the beaches to keep curious locals away from collecting the ship's debris. The government also banned fishing activity in a vicinity of 80 km from the coastline.
The Indian Navy and the Coast Guard helped the Sri Lankan authorities in battling the fire. The Indian Coast Guard even sent a specialised pollution-fighting vessel to help contain pollutants from stricken ship.
