The Hindu : Kerala News : Oil slick in well takes residents by surprise

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Others

Oil slick in well takes residents by surprise

By Our Staff Reporter

The water with high oil content collected from a borewell in Kovalam.

KOVALAM, JAN. 25. The presence of oil in the water collected from a 140-foot-deep borewell situated behind the Grove beach in the international tourist resort has caused anxiety among the local residents. The oil was first noticed in the bore well of the reception area of an Ayurvedic beach resort and research centre three days ago. The resort is situated on 30 cents on rocky terrain behind the Keezhathil Ganapathy Temple and half-a-km from the Juma Masjid.

According to G. Swaraj, managing director of the resort, the borewell had stopped yielding water a week ago. The submersible pump got stuck and it was replaced with a new one by the manufacturing firm. The efforts to pump up water, however, proved futile.

The staff of the firm inserted an iron rod into the borewell and were taken aback to find oil on it. The resort employees were advised not to install a pump as it might lead to a fire.

When water was drawn from the well using a small bottle, it had the distinct odour oil and a wick dipped in it caught fire.

Health officials of the Vizhinjam panchayat visited the spot on Monday and collected samples of the water for tests. The resort owners today gave a formal request to the Mining and Geology Department requesting that the water be tested. The water in another well in the same compound did not show any traces of oil. The Director of Mining and Geology, N. Krishnakumar, told The Hindu that officials from the department would visit the spot on Thursday to inspect the well.

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