Land based Sources of Pollution to the Coastal Waters of Gujrat and Maharastra

Out of 27 metrocities in the country, 4 are located in the coastal areas of Gujarat and Maharastra. The number of Class I cities is 19 having combined population of 2,13,42,379 and 15 Class II towns have the combined population of 9,93,228. The quality of treated/partially treated/untreated domestic sewage reaching the coastal waters of these states is about 3,114 mld. Besides, there are about 220 industries including industrial estates discharging their treated/partially treated/untreated effluents of various dimensions to the coastal waters of these states. The activities like coastal aquaculture, salt pans, ship breaking activities, ports and harbour also contribute to a certain extent to the quality of the coastal waters.

Environmental Status of Coastal Aquaculture

Total area under coastal aquaculture in the country is 1,52,080 hectares at present. The increase in shrimp farming has both positive and negative implications. On one hand it has converted unproductive or marginally productive land into productive and generated employment opportunities in rural coastal areas while on the contrary, the unplanned and irregulated growth of coastal aquaculture has caused environmental degradation. A large number of farms have come up in coastal areas by converting agricultural land, salt panes and wetlands. Besides, the effluent discharged during harvesting and pond cleaning has much pollution potential due to release of high organic and nutrient load. An extensive study was conducted on the pollution potential of aquaculture farms by monitoring at 68 ponds from 15 shrimp farms located in Gujarat and Maharastra. The effluent discharged during harvesting indicated high BOD (80 mg/l), Total Phsphorus (2.5 mg/l), total nitrogen (15 mg/l) and total suspended solids (752 mg/l).

Environmental Status of Veraval Fishing Harbour

Veraval Fishing Harbour, situated in Gujarat, was established in the year 1986. It was originally designed for operation of 800 fishing vessels. However, a total of about 3,500 fishing vessels of different kinds are operating from this fishing harbour. The study shows that atleast 6-7 crew stay in the vessel and all the domestic wastes generated from the vessel are discharged within the harbour area. Besides, about 5.40 mld of municipal sewage generated from the Veraval town having population of 1,41,207, also reaches to the harbour area through 11 drains without any treatment.

The effluent generated by 42 fish processing industries located in the nearby industrial area of GIDC is also being discharged into the harbour area. The oxygen content in the harbour water was much less, and sometimes it reaches to nil. The water of harbour area becomes pink in colour due to mixing of sewage and effluents. High concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons were observed in the harbour water due to high traffic of fishing vessels and poor flushing of port basin.

Case Study on Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch

Gulf of Kutch is the longest coastal habitat on the west coast of India in the State of Gujarat. The Marine National Park and the Marine Sanctuary are situated along the southern shore of Gulf from Okha to Khijadia. It includes 42 islands and a complex of fringing reef, mudflats, coastal salt marshes, sand flats, mangrove forests, sandy and rocky beaches supported with diversity of fauna and flora. Gulf of Kutch is arid zone with scanty rainfall and less vegetation. This has resulted in extensive felling of mangroves for firewood and fodder. Besides, construction of salt pans cleared vast areas of mangrove vegetation. Creation of new ports and habours, ship-breaking yard at Sachana have created severe impact on the overall environment of Gulf of Kutch. Industrial developments and disposal of treated/partially treated/untreated effluents to the Gulf area can be a threat to the local environment.

Environmental Status of Puri, Orissa

Over 3 million tourists per year visit Puri, a famous holy town. As a result, the burning of fossil fuel like diesel (about 1 million litre) and gasoline (about half a million litre in average) occur everyday in the transport sector around the area. There is no large and medium industries functioning in and near proximity of the area. There are about 200 hotels and 300 holiday homes, being operated for devotees besides four fish processing industries.

The town generates over 20,000 tons of municipal solid waste and about 0.3 million cubic metre of wastewater per year. Though facilities for waste management of both municipal solid waste by the treatment plant and sewage by rapid evapo-transpiration system have been developed, the overall treatment is still inadequate. Environmental sanitation is poor in some parts of the town. Drinking water distributed from reservoirs were found free from bacteria while some groundwater samples were found bacteriologically contaminated. Study is being continued to assess the quality of coastal water and groundwater.

Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMAPS) Project

The project, sponsored by the Department of Ocean Development (DOD) is being carried out in terms of sources and characterisation of land-based pollution along the coast of Orissa, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. In the first phase, status of different coastal industries is being assessed.

In terms of waste generation, industrial effluent to the tune of 10,000m3,solid waste around 4,000 tons and domestic waste of about 3,500m3 are generated daily from the industries along the coast of Orissa and West Bengal. Wastewater after treatment are discharged, which ultimately reaches to coastal sea through canals/rivers while the solid wastes, in most cases, are disposed off in lined pits.