Oceanic disaster ahead

The latest findings of the Coastal
Ocean Monitoring and Prediction
System (COMAPS) offer us a
gloomy picture about the health of
the seas. The COMAPs has identified 25 locations of "hotspots" of
environmental pollution, where
marine life as a whole is facing a
major threat. The analysis of data
collected by COMAPs describes
Veraval Port, Hazira, the Tapi estuary, Varsova Creek, Mahim Bayand
the Thane Creek as "areas of high
pollution" (AHP).

Madras Harbour, Ennore estuary Vishakhapatnam harbour,
Kakinada and Puri have also been
given the A HP status. But the West
Bengal coast, along with Kandla,
Bassein Creek, Ratnagiri, Mandovi
Zuari, Cannanore, Calicut and
Cuddalore have been classified as
areas of low pollution.

The department of ocean development (DoD) is according very
high priority to cleaning up of the
seas, as now their emphasis is on
the polymetallic nodules harvested
from the ocean, from which metals
like copper, nickel and cobalt are
being extracted. Along India's huge
coastline, there are over 350,000
industrial units. An estimated
120,000 tonne of garbage, chemical
and toxic waste finds its way into
the ocean, endangering oceanic
ecosystems.

The DoD has taken some steps
to save the ecosystems of the
~Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshwadeep,
the Minicoy group and other island
systems in the Indian Ocean, Bay of
Bengal and Arabian Sea. The
Central government is planning to
empower the state pollution control boards to take strict action
against offending units. But considering the mammoth task in hand,
the DoD has been given a pittance
of a budget: only Rs 65.94 crore for
the year 1995-96.