Dr. Rita Saha Scientist C Central Pollution Control Board Zonal office , Kolkata
Seas and oceans are regarded as the ultimate resource reserves for sustaining life on Earth and may be viewed as common resource available to all Vast water mass, besides providing food , minerals , energy and medicines Serve as huge sources of our breathing gas Sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and regulate global temperature and thus earth’s climate
Environment is considered as limitless sink for society’s all wastes until 1972 conference on ‘Human Environment’ in Stockholm where serious concern was expressed about the growing marine pollution
Attracting global attention to such incidents, urgent call was raised towards identification of critically polluted areas in the marine Environment The regional Sea Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was initiated in 1974 and Action Plans were formulated to meet the specific needs of various geopolitical regions over 120 Coastal States
Objective of a comprehensive investigation of marine pollution is to provide a sound scientific basis for the assessment and regulation of the pollution problem through systematically planned and implemented programme
Responsible for environmental degradation- industrialization happens to be one of the leading factors Rapid growth of industries specially chemical and allied products has resulted in the production and use of various substances some of which are persistent in nature and hazardous to human health Some hundred years back starting with the Thames River in UK many reports have been made all over the world on the growing contamination of rivers , lakes , ground and coastal waters by industrial waste
Compilation of observational data and mapping of pollutant distribution in the area concerned with a view to eventual synthesis of a national distribution pattern of major pollutants and the identification of information gaps
• The Oceans are considered as being capable of providing infinite dilution for the worlds wastes. • Unfortunately the process in the sea are not dynamic enough to provide the required mixing and dispersion to allow all the waste created due to human thrust be intimately mixed with the ocean waters.
A study has made in 1994-95 to assess the pollution potential of coastal industries in the country This study a coastal land mass of 25 km inshore (in the land –ward side) was considered Report reflects , there is a good concentration of large and medium industries in the narrow coastal belt Sl. Coastal State Coastal Area upto25km Industries No. Aquaculture No Length fromshore line (sq.km) 1 Gujarat 1663 41575 35 (29) - 2 Maharashtra 720 18000 167 (38) - 3 Goa 140 3500 2 (1) - 4 Karnataka 290 7250 3 (2) - 5 Kerala 560 14000 26 (12) - 6 Tamilnadu 860 21500 30 (15) 20 7 Pondicherry 24 600 4 (4) - 8 Andhra Pradesh 930 23250 30 (24) 88 9 Orissa 450 11250 4 (2) 20 10 West Bengal 200 5000 7 (4) 10 Observation reflects that 308 large and medium industries are located in the belt of the country Out of these, 233 industries are located in the west coast and 75 on the East coast In addition from the available information, there is 138 aquaculture farms predominantly for shrimp farming located along the east coast.
Of all the maritime States , the State of Gujarat has the largest shoreline
River outfall Sabarmati Tapi Indola
Mahi Purna Ambika
Narmada Saraswathi Par
Dansan Ganga
River outfall Ulhas Kundalika
Patul Ganga Savitri
Amba Vasishta
Major contaminants from mine rejects
Solid waste disposal in the beach due to tourists
Municipal sewage draining in the sea without treatment
The coastline is well defined and almost straight and broken at numerous points by rivers, river lets, cracks and bays
River out falls
Kali Nadi Bedti Swarna Nadi Sharavathi
The coastal places of Kerala endowed with Brackish water lagoons interconnected with natural and manmade canals and also 41 River outfalls
The coastline of Tamilnadu is mostly facing the Bay of Bengal to the East with only a smaller part facing the Arabian sea.
River outfall Cauvery Vellor Palar Amravati
Tamraparni Cheyyar Coleroon Pennar
Union territory of Pondicherry is surrounded by Tamilnadu State on the landward side and bay of Bengal in the East
Coastline is very small
Contamination is due to Distillery and Paper mill outfall
Coastal Plains of Orissa has two distinct topographical features. The zone from the State of West Bengal to the North of Pradeep is concave and very shallow with sandy beaches
River outfalls
Subarnarekha Mahanadi
Brahmini Baitarani
The Coast of West Bengal exhibits a distinctive physiographic feature The Ganga–Brahamaputra River system, transporting huge suspension load has created a vast inter-tidal deltaic mass- Sundarbans The Hughli-Matla River system and six other estuaries with innumerable tidal creeks and channels form an extensive network in the lower Bengal State/Type GUJ MH GOA KAR KER TN PON AP ORI WB East West of pollutant Coast Coast
Industries 35 167 2 3 26 30 4 30 4 7 75 233 (No)
Aquacultur 0.25 2.1 2.37 e farm 3 2 (Million m3/day) Industrial 0.56 0.08 0.01 0.04 0.51 0.12 0.00 0.3 0.00 0.02 0.50 0.85 effluent 6 2 3 5 5 6 5 1 2 (Million m3/day) Industrial 9506 2628 1.4 76 243 9112 1.25 719 3505 25 19834 14642 solid waste 6 1 1 (MT/day)
The seas around India are concurrently exposed to severe stress and threats
Agreement of the UN convention of the Law of the Sea, a comprehensive Regional seas programme under the UNEP was evolved
Problem areas and state of pollution in the marine – coastal environment identified
The programme Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMAPS) is being conducted for the assessment of state of marine coastal pollution in India
Evaluation of the present state of knowledge in a given area and identification of major gaps
Selection of possible pollutants of importance taking regional conditions into consideration
Identification of possible inputs of pollutants to be measured
Selection of types of samples to be analyzed for each pollutant
Determination of geographical spacing of sampling transects and an account of regional distribution of pollutants through time and space.
Adoption of appropriate sampling methods and sample storage procedure for each pollutant
Adoption of suitable analytical method for each pollutant
Intercalibration exercises, national and regional
Compilation of observational data and mapping of pollutant distribution in the areas concerned with a view to eventual synthesis of a National distribution pattern of major pollutant and the identification of information gaps
Identification of input sites of pollutants is of considerable importance in planning the sampling array All the domestic and industrial discharge sites, all the dumping sites whether onshore or offshore and all the river, estuaries should be mapped
Pollutant may be present in the sea water in the organisms, in the sediments and in the atmosphere near the sea surface.
In principle all the four media should be supplied.
Available sampling techniques require the facilities of a Research vessel with laboratory and hydrographic winch.
It is desirable to collect surface water samples from the bow of the ship while the ship is moving forward very slowly
Samples should be collected from three depth i.e. near the surface, at the mid depth, and from the bottom. (if depth is 5m or less surface and bottom samples recommended)
The study area is extending from Indo-Bangladesh boarder in East and River Subarnarekha in the West of Hugly River facing Bay of Bengal
Characterized by the presence of the India’s largest mangrove block- The Sundarbans Ecosystem.
Largest river outfall- the and its massive sediment transport. River Ganga (Hugli)
West of Hugli has drainage of River Subarnarekha in Orissa and nearby a tourist resort (Digha) in West Bengal Part.
Sea water in the Bengal Coast is used for fishing, bathing, navigation and aquaculture practices
Major industries in the state are steel Plants, textiles, silk, automobiles, chemicals, paper, pharmasuiticals, jute, fertilizer,sugar, aluminium, leather, ceramic and glass
About 20 nautical mile landward from the coastline there is an industrial complex at Haldia
Aquaculture farming is also a prominent activity Sewage of Kolkata is transported through the Matla River in the Eastern side
Industrial waste find way into the coastal waters through the Hugli river
Waste Generated in the Port related operations at Haldia and Kolkata including traffic of Oil tankers are posing threats to the coastal water quality Port and Harbor Fishing Recreation
Tourism Aquaculture Water sports
Municipal waste Salt production Transect Season Salinity (ppt) DO (mg/l) Nitrate (µg/l) Phosphate Suspended (µg/1) solids (mg/l)
Matla River Post 14.3 4.8 175 30 129.8 (T-1) Monsoon Winter 23.2 4.8 72 24 131.8 Summer 28.6 4.4 119 20 250.5 Saptamukhi Post 14.2 4.9 222 36 144.5 River (T-2) Monsoon Winter 23.6 4.7 78 29 97.8 Summer 26.5 4.5 144 23 134.2 Hugli River Post 14.1 4.8 347 43 177.2 (T-3) Monsoon Winter 18.3 4.7 185 36 310.7 Summer 27.8 4.5 139 33 135.1 Transect Season Salinity (ppt) DO (mg/l) Nitrate (µg/l) Phosphate Suspended (µg/1) solids (mg/l) Digha Post 20.36 4.39 128 36 109.4 (T-4) Monsoon Winter 24.72 5.2 48 26 120.4 Summer 26.42 4.71 47 18 135.1 Subernare Post 19.58 4.63 99 33 96.5 kha River Monsoon (T-5) Winter 24.44 4.96 93 25 77.6 Summer 25.46 4.81 52 20 160.6 Transect Lead (Pb) Cadmium (Cd) Mercury (Hg)
summer Post winter summer Post winter summer Post winter monsoon monsoon monsoon Matla River 10.81 8.24 2.68 0.69 0.4 1.17 0.53 0.4 0.23 (T-1) Saptamukhi 10.37 8.21 3.22 0.66 0.8 0.64 0.59 0.38 0.38 River (T-2)
Hugli River 8.29 8.94 9.4 0.33 0.53 0.57 0.47 0.27 0.16 (T-3)
Digha 12.86 12.06 6.78 0.39 0.39 0.27 0.42 0.18 0.22 (T-4)
Subernarekh 12.56 10.74 5.2 0.57 0.39 0.51 0.47 0.45 0.33 a River (T-5)
Zooplankton Major groups Phytoplankton Major groups
Copepod Hemichordate Coscinodiscus Cearatium Larvae
Dipteria Larvae Ctenophora Rhizosolenia Biddulphia
Sagitta Lucifer Skeletonema Pleuronigma Salinity:-
Trend is marginally increasing Decreased dilution with fresh water Flow and variable precipitation
Dissolved oxygen:-
Consistent in concentration from shore to off-shore Indicates adequate assimilation of organic waters Suspended solids:-
All along the study stretch carried higher load of suspended solids in Summer
Suspension load reached very high at Hugli almost during the entire period of the year and that infered with phytoplankton propagation Nutrients:-
Comparatively higher nutrients observed at Hugli mouth throughout the year
Marginally decreasing trend towards offshore
Occasionally high concentration of phosphate/nitrate in Hugli, in particular might be due to sudden flux from anthropogenic activities Heavy metals:-
No significant change observed for Cadmium and Mercury
Concentration of Lead was also consistent through years in the study stretch except Subarnarekha outfall and at Matla River outfall.
Concentration of Lead in water is higher than Cadmium and mercury Zooplankton and phytoplankton:-
Population density greatly variable through seasons
Distribution found discontinuous/ patchy in close shore stations
Relatively higher density at offshore stations Control of pollution through treatment and safe disposal of wastes at point sources occurring near the coast (Haldia industrial complex, Haldia Dock and Fishing harbor)
Treatment of liquid wastes and safe disposal of solid wastes generated at tourist resort/coastal towns/municipalities (Digha, Haldia, Kakdip, Diamond Harbour,canning, Namkhana and Basanti) Regulation of material usages (fertilizers, pesticides)
Effective implementation of a contingent plan for oil spills containment/abatement (Hugli estuary in particular and adjacent coastal area) involving concerned organizations
Regulation of anthropogenic activities (new/expansion) along the coast as per CRZ notification of Ministry of Environment and Forests
Effective afforestation programmes along with the banks of coastal creeks/rivers in the estuarine zone
Regulation of ground water abstraction (Digha town), sand quarrying , if any and avoidance of sand dune deposition ( Sankarpur to Subarnarekha River outfall)
Ban on intensive coastal aqua farming practice Regulation of mesh size in near shore fishing nets, protecting fry and fingerlings of important fishes, prohibition on sea shell picking
Mass awareness programme/ campaign about the importance of coastal zone environment and involvement of local interest group/NGO in the management and development of the coastal zone