Foreword
The coastal line of the Country's mainland is about 6000 kills long. t?oastal waters, five kilometres from the shorelines into the seas, are under the authprityof coastal States for pollution control under provision of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974. Formulation of a rational approach to effective co):ltrolof coastal water pollution (from land-based sources) must necessarily be backed up by:

* Sectorwise identification of different uses of coastal waters and the Best-Use-Class among difrerent uses (requiring commensurate least polluted water quality) for adopting appropriate pollution control measures so that these Designated-Best-Uses of the coastal sectors may be sustained ;

* Preparation of an inventory of land-based polluting sources and the coastal outfalls transporting pollutants from land to the sea.

The present report, third in the series, includes Designated-Best-Use-Maps of five sectors of the North-East Coast, extending from the Indo-Bangladesh border to the inter-State boundary between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh (i. e. along the coastline of Orissa and West Bengal). Summary and sectorwise recommendations for restoration/conservation of the water quality, recreational beaches, ecologically and aesthetically sen~itive areas are also provided

Prior to preparation of this report, a reconnaisance survey of the coastal stretch of Orissa and West Bengal (about 650 kills. long) was conducted during February-March, 1986 directly by the East North-East Regional Office (ENERO) of the Central Board with consent and marginal assistance of the concerned State Pollution Control Boards, The project was carried out under overall planning~nd supervision of Dr. R. N. Bhattacharyya and with painstaking effort by a team of workers led by Shri T. K. Bandyopadhyay. The report was prepared and published by the East North-East RegionalOffice of the Central Board with positive inputs from Dr. Aillalesh Chaudhuri, Professor and Head of Marine Science Department, Calcutta University.