Which body is the central coordinating agency for oil spill response in Indian waters?
- A.Indian Coast Guard
- B.Central Pollution Control Board
- C.National Disaster Response Force
- D.Directorate General of Shipping
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, the Indian Coast Guard. Oil spill response in Indian waters runs under the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan, and the Coast Guard is its central coordinating agency, working with major ports, state governments, oil companies and the Navy on reporting, containment with booms, recovery with skimmers, use of dispersants and shoreline clean-up. Option B is wrong because the Central Pollution Control Board sets and monitors standards for air and water pollution on land and advises governments, but it does not run spill response at sea. Option C is wrong because the National Disaster Response Force is the specialist force for disasters such as floods, earthquakes and building collapse, assisting rather than coordinating here. Option D is wrong because the Directorate General of Shipping regulates merchant shipping, surveys and seafarer certification under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1958.
Read the full article: Marine Pollution, Oil Spills and Ocean Acidification
Practice Questions
View allOcean acidification is caused mainly by the absorption of which gas by seawater?
- A.Nitrogen
- B.Carbon dioxide
- C.Methane
- D.Sulphur dioxide
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Carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater and reacts with water to form carbonic acid, which dissociates into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions; the extra hydrogen ions lower the pH, and they also combine with carbonate ions, leaving less carbonate for shells and coral skeletons.
Read the full explanation →Minamata disease, first recognised in Japan, is caused by poisoning from which element?
- A.Cadmium
- B.Arsenic
- C.Mercury
- D.Lead
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Methylmercury discharged with factory effluent into Minamata Bay entered fish and shellfish, biomagnified up the food chain and poisoned the people who ate them, producing the nervous disorder named after the bay and recognised in 1956.
Read the full explanation →Particles of plastic smaller than which size are classified as microplastics?
- A.5 millimetres
- B.5 centimetres
- C.5 micrometres
- D.5 nanometres
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Microplastics are conventionally defined as plastic particles less than five millimetres across.
Read the full explanation →Eutrophication of coastal waters leads most directly to which condition?
- A.A rise in dissolved oxygen that helps fish
- B.Depletion of dissolved oxygen and the formation of dead zones
- C.A fall in water temperature
- D.An increase in water salinity
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Eutrophication begins with nitrogen and phosphorus from fertiliser, detergent and sewage. The nutrients feed an algal bloom; the bloom is short-lived, and when it dies the bacteria that decompose the mass consume large amounts of dissolved oxygen.
Read the full explanation →The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 took place in which waters?
- A.Gulf of Mexico
- B.Prince William Sound, Alaska
- C.Persian Gulf
- D.Bay of Bengal
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The tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound in 1989, releasing crude oil that coated a long stretch of a cold, sheltered coastline where oil breaks down slowly, and killing large numbers of seabirds, sea otters and salmon.
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