D Venkatesan, a 36-year-old fisherman from Ennore Kuppam — a fishing village in Chennai in the south Indian State of Tamil Nadu — did not let hope fade even when Cyclone Michaung, with its squally winds, stopped him from venturing into the sea for his livelihood in early December.
He had followed the advisory issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre and stayed at home, like other fishermen from KTCC (Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chennai, and Chengalpattu) districts, knowing it would end soon.
But a week after the cyclone, Venkatesh is a broken man.
He cannot venture into the sea anytime soon — not because of the cyclone but now because of the oil spill that happened on 4 December from the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL), contaminating the Kosasthalaiyar river via the Buckingham Canal.
The oil spill reached the Bay of Bengal via Ennore Creek, leaving the shores and the water unfit for fishing.
The environmental impact of the oil spill is so severe that the fishermen predict depletion of catch for the next six months. While small quantities of oil spillage has always been noticed at these fishing hamlets every monsoon, this is the second severe incident of oil spill after the one in 2017.
Around 8,000 fishing families from eight fishing hamlets — Sivan Padai Veedu Kuppam, Kattukuppam, Thalankuppam, Mugadwarakuppam, Ernavur kuppam, Nettukuppam, Chinna Kuppam, and Periya Kuppam — are estimated to be affected by the oil spill.