CARELESSNESS on the part of a worker has resulted in a major oil spill in the Hooghly river at Haldia about 80 km from Calcutta. Marine pollution control vessels belonging to the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) tried their best to control the spill.

It occured when an Indian Oil Corporation tanker was transferring high speed diesel oil to another ferry, Prem Teesta, which was scheduled to take it to CPT's dock at Calcutta. A contract worker, CPT sources suspect, left the valve of the tanker open and fell asleep which resulted in the leakage of about one lakh kilolitres of diesel into the river.