By Manas Pimpalkhare | October 19, 2023

Surveys undertaken by the Maharashtra government’s fisheries and revenue departments concluded that the oil spill from Oil and Natural Gas Company’s (ONGC) Uran plant in the early hours of September 8 this year hurt traditional fishing businesses and local agriculture.

“The rocky coast had dead fish, crabs, and prawns. This has caused local fishermen to bear losses,” a report by the Maharashtra Fisheries Department dated September 11 said. The report also states that the crude oil that leaked from the nearby ONGC plant’s tank flowed into the sea through canals present on the site. 

The department visited the site of the spill in Pirwadi, Uran, near Mumbai, and surveyed the impacted region along with ONGC officials and local fishermen, noting that the layer of oil was seen as far as 800 meters into the Arabian sea.

Maharashtra Revenue department’s concurrent findings in the immediate week after ONGC’s oil spill said that farmers and fishermen in the nearby regions are facing financial losses. Cumulatively, the oil spill affected nearly three acres of farmland, according to the Revenue department. 

Both reports state that oil leaked from ONGC, India’s largest oil producer, on September 8 in “large quantities”. 

“Villagers from Nagaon, Kegaon, Danda, Kharkhanda, and Karanja have demanded monetary compensation for their losses,” the Revenue department report said. Nearly a hundred farmers and fishermen from these villages started protesting against the delay in monetary compensation a week after the spill. 

“The Tehsildar’s office and ONGC offered us fishing nets as compensation from the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Fund. What do we do with nets if there are no fish to catch?” said Vaibhav Kadu, a fisherman in Uran. The protesting farmers said that oil spills and leaks from ONGC have been frequent, but monetary compensation has been rare. 

In 2019, the ONGC Uran plant faced an oil spill which turned into a fire, in which four firefighters and one employee died, according to news reports. Videos from the oil spill fire show the factory engulfed in flames and billowing smoke, along with the water in nearby canals on fire. 

“The apathy of large corporations like ONGC, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is seen frequently in Uran,” said Nandkumar Pawar, an environmental activist working in the region. Protesting against the activities of large corporations and government projects like roads has landed locals in jail in the past, he said. “In February this year, 30 people, including 10 women, were arrested. When the Bombay High Court Judge learned that they were detained for 12 days, he took strict action against authorities,” he added, speaking about a protest against a road passing through Uran.  

After spills in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Assam, the leak in Uran is ONGC’s fourth oil spill this year. 23 days after protesting outside the gates of ONGC’s Uran plant, aggrieved farmers and fishermen said they are no closer to getting monetary compensation from the government-owned company.