Coast Guard continues to monitor sunken vessel off Mangaluru coast
Mangaluru, Jun 25: Officials of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) continued to monitor the situation around the grounded merchant ship MV Princess Miral off the Ullal shore near here for any probable leakage of oil from the ship.
Along with the district administration and other stakeholders, coordination is being done for the shoreline clean-up in case of any oil spill, an ICG release here said on Saturday.
Constant surveillance has been undertaken by Coast Guard aircraft and ships in the area around the vessel and onshore for pollution response since June 21 after the vessel ran aground.
A fully equipped pollution control vessel, ICGS Samudra Pavak from Porbandar, arrived on Saturday morning off New Mangalore and joined the pollution response operation at sea along with ICG ships and aircraft.
As of date, nine ICG ships and resource agencies and three Coast Guard aircraft are on task for assessment and monitoring the sea area off New Mangalore.
These assets are continuing the necessary preventive measures. Nethravati river is in close proximity of the vessel, which is grounded close to shore, therefore as a precautionary measure, the river mouth has been barricaded from the seaward side using inflatable booms so as to prevent containment of the river in case of any leakage of oil from the ship.
Coast Guard pollution response team and experts are continuously analysing the situation and also assisting the state administration and New Mangalore Port authorities by conducting pollution response operation and shoreline clean-up training sessions and mock drills, the release said.
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Karnataka releases Rs 300 cr aid for sugarcane growers, Rs 50 per tonne to be credited directly
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has released Rs 300 crore as financial assistance to sugarcane growers for the 2025-26 season, with Rs 50 per tonne to be credited directly to farmers who supplied cane to sugar factories across the state, Minister Shivanand Patil said on Wednesday.
The assistance forms part of the state's commitment to provide Rs 100 per tonne over and above the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), with the burden to be shared equally between the government and sugar factories, he added.
"As announced by the state government, Rs 300 crore has been released as financial assistance of Rs 50 per tonne to farmers who supplied sugarcane to sugar factories in the state during the 2025-26 season," Patil, who holds Sugarcane Development, Sugar, Textiles and Agricultural Marketing said in a statement.
The minister recalled that at a meeting of sugar factory owners and sugarcane growers convened by the chief minister at Vidhana Soudha on November 8 last year, a decision was taken to provide Rs 100 per tonne over and above FRP.
"It was decided that of the Rs 100 assistance, the state government would bear Rs 50 and the sugar factories would contribute Rs 50," Patil said, adding that the government has now released its share of Rs 300 crore in accordance with the decision.
Based on proposals submitted by sugar factories, the Sugarcane Development Commissioner will release the funds to the Deputy Commissioners. Directions have been issued to ensure that Rs 50 per tonne is directly credited into the bank accounts of farmers, based on the quantity of cane supplied, he said.
Similarly, the Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to ensure that sugar factory managements provide their share of Rs 50 per tonne to eligible farmers, Patil explained.
Providing details of the ongoing crushing season, the minister said, "So far, 521 lakh metric tonne of sugarcane have been crushed, and about 600 lakh metric tonne are expected to be crushed during the season."
During the 2025-26 season, 81 sugar factories have undertaken crushing operations, of which 29 have completed the process, he added.
According to him, the crushing season is expected to conclude by the first week of March, and the financial assistance has been calculated based on the estimated crushing of 600 lakh metric tonne, the minister added.
