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Ballast water testing centre in land dispute
Land acquisition for the ballast water testing centre in the district is getting delayed as certain portion of land is in court dispute. Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan had laid the foundation stone for the seafront facility of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) at Tupilipalem village in Vakadu mandal on April 26, 2015.
Nellore: Land acquisition for the ballast water testing centre in the district is getting delayed as certain portion of land is in court dispute. Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan had laid the foundation stone for the seafront facility of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) at Tupilipalem village in Vakadu mandal on April 26, 2015.
The NIOT has proposed to establish a treatment and testing facility in the district to prevent attack of invasive species both in Indian and international waters especially through ballast water. Ballast water is carried in ships’ ballast tanks to improve stability and manoeuvrability and is essential for safe and efficient modern shipping operations. It is pumped into a ship when cargo is unloaded or loaded, or when it needs extra stability in foul weather.
When ships take on ballast water, plants and animals that live in the ocean are also picked up. Ballast water includes bacteria, microbes, small invertebrates, eggs, cysts and larvae of various species. The transferred species from this water may survive to establish a reproductive population in the host environment, becoming invasive, out-competing native species and multiplying into pest proportions when they discharge the ballast water at their ports of call, said a senior
scientist from the NIOT.
Further, this has turned out to be an international issue and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has declared that ships which do not have inbuilt ballast water management system will not be allowed in ports and has set a deadline too. But, the menace is continuing. After considering all these environmental problems, the NIOT established a ballast water treatment and testing centre in the district.
The State government allocated 250 acres of land for the centre but there were disputes in the court to an extent of 60 acres that has been hampering the land acquisition process, according to sources. Dr R Kirubakaran, Head of Marine Biotechnology department of the NIOT, Chennai, was not available to comment on the issue.
