New Delhi, Aug. 17: The Centre on Tuesday assured compensation to those affected by the oil spill resulting from the collision of the two ships off Mumbai coast early this month maintaining that “polluter must pay” principle is being implied.
“Polluter must pay and polluter will pay,” the environment minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, told the Rajya Sabha.
To a question whether the government would seek compensation under an international convention, Mr Ramesh said since India was not a signatory to the Bunkers Convention, such a recourse was not available.
However, expeditious efforts were being made to become a party to the convention, he said, adding that it was essential for India to be a member of the Bunkers Convention for claiming damages since the ships which met with an accident were only dry vessels and not tankers.
Responding to concerns raised over loss of livelihood for fishermen following the incident, Mr Ramesh clarified that the ban on fishing in the area imposed till August 15 was not after the collision but because of the monsoon.
He said studies by different institutions have been commissioned for ascertaining the impact of the oil spill on.