BOBLME-2011-Ecology-07 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. BOBLME contract: PSA-GCP 148/07/2010 For bibliographic purposes, please reference this publication as: BOBLME (2011) Country report on pollution – India. BOBLME-2011-Ecology-07 CONTENTS Chapter 1 The Bay of Bengal Coast of India 1 1.1 Biogeographical Features 1 1.2 Coastal Ecosystems of the Bay of Bengal Region 8 1.3 Coastal activities of high economic value in terms of GDP 19 Chapter 2 Overview of sources of pollution 33 2.1 Land based Pollution (Both point and non-point sources of 33 pollution) 2.2 Sea/ Marine-based Pollution 40 Chapter 3 Existing water and sediment quality objectives 43 and targets 3.1 Introduction 43 3.2 Wastewater generation in coastal areas 43 Chapter 4 The National Program Coastal Ocean Monitoring 49 and Prediction System 4.1 Mapping hotspots along the coast 49 4.2 Time series analysis and significant findings 53 4.3 Role of Ministries 67 4.3.1 Ministry of Environment and Forests 67 4.3.2 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 67 4.3.3 Ministry of Earth Sciences 68 4.3.4 National Laboratories 68 Chapter 5 Present status of marine pollution: contaminant 70 levels in water, sediments, fish & other biological resources 5.1 Eutrophication and algal blooms in the coastal waters of Bay 70 of Bengal 5.1.1 West Bengal 72 5.1.2 Orissa (north-western Bay of Bengal) 76 5.1.3 Andhra Pradesh 83 5.1.4 Tamil Nadu and Puducherry 87 5.2 Oil Pollution, Oil Spills and Ecological impacts of Oil Pollution 97 5.2.1 West Bengal 98 5.2.2 Orissa 98 5.2.3 Andhra Pradesh 100 5.2.4 Tamil Nadu 100 5.2.5 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 101 5.3 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Heavy metals in the 101 Bay of Bengal Coast 5.3.1 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) 101 5.3.2 Heavy metals 101 5.3.2.1 West Bengal 105 5.3.2.2 Orissa 105 5.3.2.3 Andhra Pradesh 105 5.4 Shell Fish Poisoning in the Bay of Bengal 107 5.5 Micro-organisms in Bay of Bengal Coast of India 108 5.6 Summary 109 Chapter 6 Trans -boundary coastal pollution issues and concerns 114 6.1 Concerns 114 6.2 Examples of Transboundary Impacts 114 6.2.1 India - Bangladesh 114 6.2.2 India –Sri Lanka 114 6.3 Regional Agreements 115 6.4 Conclusions 116 Chapter 7 International instruments adopted, current status of 118 implementation 7.1 Introduction 118 7.2 Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development 118 Global Programme of Action for the Protection of Marine 127 Environment from land-based Activities (GPA), 1995 7.3 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 2001 127 7.4 IMO CONVENTIONS 129 Chapter 8 Policy, economic instruments and legal mechanisms for 131 pollution control 8.1 Introduction: Legislation for Pollution Control 131 8.1.1 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 131 (amended 1988) 8.1.2 The Environment (Protection) Act 132 8.1.3 The Coast Guard Act, 1978 135 8.1.4 The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic 136 Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976: 8.1.5 Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 136 8.1.6 National Environmental Appellate Authority Act, 1997 136 8.1.7 The National Green Tribunal 136 8.1.8 The Indian Ports Act, 1908 137 8.1.9 The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) 137 8.2 Water Quality Standards 138 8.2.1 Water quality criteria for freshwater 138 8.2.2 Water quality criteria for coastal waters 140 8.2.3 Disposal of wastewater / discharge of environmental 144 pollutants 8.2.4 Standards for disposal for some coastal industries/activities 149 8.3 EIA/SIA For Clearance and Approval of Projects that have 151 Potential Impacts on Water Quality and Coastal and Marine Environment in General 8.4 Other Instruments and Key Sectoral Policies 158 8.4.1 Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution 158 8.4.2 National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on 159 Environment and Development, 1992 8.4.3 National Environmental Policy, 2006 159 8.4.4 Cruise Shipping Policy 160 8.5 Market Based Instruments 161 Chapter 9 Institutional mechanisms for pollution control and 164 enforcement of existing policies and legislations 9.1 Complex Institutional Arrangements 164 9.2 Ministry of Environment and Forests 164 9.2.1 The Central Pollution Control Board 165 9.2.2 The State Pollution Control Boards 168 9.2.3 Environmental Authorities 172 9.3 Ministry of Earth Sciences 172 9.4 Coastal aquaculture authority 173 9.5 Indian Coast Guard 173 9.6 Ministry of Shipping 174 Chapter 10 Gaps, priority actions and recommendations 176 10.1 Gaps in Information/ Data on Coastal Pollution 176 10.2 Priority Actions to address gaps 177 10.3 Monitoring systems 177 10.4 Gaps in Legislation and Policies 178 10.5 Implementation issues (capacity constraints both human, 179 technical/ infrastructure) 10.6 Recommendations: Report Card of pollution status to public 179 Chapter 11 Summary and Conclusions 183 List of Tables Table 1.1 Mangrove cover assessment for the east coast of India (area in 9 km2) Table 1.2 Mangrove cover assessment (density) for the east coast of India 10 (area in km2) Table 1.3 Distribution of Mangroves in the Bay of Bengal coast of India 11 Table 1.4 State/ UT-wise Mangrove Cover Assessment (2001) 11 Table 1.5 Distribution of seaweed resources along the coastal states of 14 India Table 1.6 Coral Reef ecosystems of India 15 Table 1.7 Lagoons along the East Coast of India 16 Table 1.8 Medium Estuaries of the East Coast of India. 18 Table 1.9 Major and Minor Ports along the East Coast of India 20 Table 1.10 District wise gross cropped area during 2004-05 (area in '000 26 hect.) Table 1.11 Marine fishing sector along the east coast 27 Table 2.1 Type and quantum of pollutants discharged into the coastal 34 ecosystem of India Table 3.1 Sewage generation in Class I cities in India 44 Table 3.2 Classification of Water based on Designated Use (Freshwater) 45 Table 3.3 Standards of seawater quality 46 Table 4.1 List of Parameters measured by COMAPS Programme of MoES 49 Table 4.2 National Laboratories in the COMAPS Programme on the East 68 Coast of India Table 5.1 Major Oil spills on the East Coast of India since 1970 97 Table 5.2 Concentration of Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHc) along the East 98 coast of India Table 5.3 Activities related to marine oil pollution in Tamil Nadu 100 Table 5.4 Concentrations of heavy metals Zn, Cu, Pb (mg kg-1 dry wt.) in 105 various fishes Table 5.5 Comparison of average concentrations of dissolved trace metals 106 in Bay of Bengal region, Southeast coast of India Table 7.1 Institutions Responsible for Decision-making 119 Table 7.2 Highlights of Major Policies and Programmes 120 Table 7.3 Updated Activities 123 Table 8.1 Designated Best Uses of Water 138 Table 8.2 Water Quality Standards in India (Source IS 2296:1992) 139 Table 8.3 Designated Best Use-Coastal Segments 141 Table 8.4 Primary Water Quality Criteria for Class SW-I Waters (For Salt 141 pans, Shell fishing, Mariculture and Ecologically Sensitive Zone) Table 8.5 Primary Water Quality Criteria for Class SW-II Waters (for 142 bathing, contact water sports and commercial fishing) Table 8.6 Primary Water Quality Criteria for Class SW-III Waters (for 143 industrial cooling, recreation (non-contact) and aesthetics) Table 8.7 Primary Water Quality Criteria for Class SW-IV Waters 143 (for harbour waters) Table 8.8 Primary Water Quality Criteria for Class SW-V Waters (for 144 navigation and controlled waste disposal) Table 8.9 Standards for Disposal Part - A : Effluents 145 Table 8.10 Standards for Liquid Effluent 149 Table 8.11 Individual Pollutant Concentration in Sea Water 149 Table 8.12 Standards for Treatment of Wastewater Discharged from the 150 Aquaculture farms, Hatcheries, Feed mills and Processing Units Table 8.13 Process and Domestic Effluents 154 Table 8.14 Classification of Industries for Consent Management 155 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Bathymetry of the Bay of Bengal 1 Figure 1.2 Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) in the Bay of Bengal 4 Figure 1.3 Patterns and range of tides along the coast of the Indian Sub- 5 continent Figure 1.4 Chlorophyll pigment concentration map 6 Figure 1.5 Classification of Indian Coastline 7 Figure 1.6 Mangrove cover assessment for the east coast of India 9 Figure 1.7 Common mangrove species in the Bay of Bengal coast 10 Figure 1.8 Seagrass ecosystems in India 13 Figure 1.9 Representatives of Seaweed Species 13 Figure 1.10 Coral Reefs of India 15 Figure 1.11 Lagoons of the east coast of India 17 Figure 1.12 Coastal Sand Dunes 19 Figure 1.13 Ports along the east coast of India 21 Figure 1.14 The Energy Map of the east coast of India 23 Figure 1.15 Location Map of tourist spots in East Coast of India 25 Figure 1.16 Location Map of Fish Landing Centers in East Coast of India 28 Figure 1.17 Population density along Indian coast (based on Provisional 30 Census data for 2011 Figure 2.1 Causes and consequence of pollution in coastal waters 34 Figure 2.2 Conceptual diagram of major land based activities along the coast 35 of India Figure 2.3 Location of Major Sewage Outfalls along the