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.

No

Coastal State Coastal

Length

Area upto25km

fromshore line

(sq.km)

Industries No. Aquaculture

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

of pollutant

GUJ MH GOA KAR KER TN PON AP ORI WB East

Coast

West

Coast

Industries

(No)

35 167 2 3 26 30 4 30 4 7 75 233

Aquacultur

e farm

(Million

m3/day)

0.25

3

2.1

2

2.37

Industrial

effluent

(Million

m3/day)

0.56

6

0.08 0.01

2

0.04

3

0.51

5

0.12

5

0.00

6

0.3

5

0.00

1

0.02

2

0.50 0.85

Industrial

solid waste

(MT/day)

9506

6

2628 1.4 76 243

1

9112 1.25 719

1

3505 25 19834 14642

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

(µg/1)

Suspended

solids (mg/l)

Matla River

(T-1)

Post

Monsoon

14.3 4.8 175 30 129.8

Winter 23.2 4.8 72 24 131.8

Summer 28.6 4.4 119 20 250.5

Saptamukhi

River (T-2)

Post

Monsoon

14.2 4.9 222 36 144.5

Winter 23.6 4.7 78 29 97.8

Summer 26.5 4.5 144 23 134.2

Hugli River

(T-3)

Post

Monsoon

14.1 4.8 347 43 177.2

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

(µg/1)

Suspended

solids (mg/l)

Digha

(T-4)

Post

Monsoon

20.36 4.39 128 36 109.4

Winter 24.72 5.2 48 26 120.4

Summer 26.42 4.71 47 18 135.1

Subernare

kha River

(T-5)

Post

Monsoon

19.58 4.63 99 33 96.5

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

monsoon

winter summer Post

monsoon

winter summer Post

monsoon

winter

Matla River

(T-1)

10.81 8.24 2.68 0.69 0.4 1.17 0.53 0.4 0.23

Saptamukhi

River (T-2)

10.37 8.21 3.22 0.66 0.8 0.64 0.59 0.38 0.38

Hugli River

(T-3)

8.29 8.94 9.4 0.33 0.53 0.57 0.47 0.27 0.16

Digha

(T-4)

12.86 12.06 6.78 0.39 0.39 0.27 0.42 0.18 0.22

Subernarekh

a River (T-5)

12.56 10.74 5.2 0.57 0.39 0.51 0.47 0.45 0.33

Zooplankton Major groups Phytoplankton Major groups

Copepod Hemichordate

Larvae

Coscinodiscus Cearatium

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