Tarballs on India’s west coast

Tarballs on India’s west coast

Subject – Environment

Context – Tarballs hit the news headlines recently when they started appearing on well-known beaches of Mumbai and Goa.

Concept –

• These aquatic pollutants, formed from weathering of crude oil floating on the ocean surface, have flooded Anjuna, Morjim, Colva and Mandrem beaches in Goa as well as Juhu, Versova, Dadar and Cuff Parade shorelines in Mumbai.
• Tarballs are dark-coloured substances dropped off to shores by waves and sea currents. They accumulate in several sizes ranging from small globules to those as big as a basketball. The latter, which weigh 6-7 kilograms, are washing up more often these days.
• The presence of tarballs can indicate oil spills. In addition to the big spills near Mumbai, the Arabian Sea experiences oil spills routinely as it is also a crowded oil transportation waterway, with western coast corporations like Bombay High, Panna-Mukta oil field, Tapti gas fields and Essar Oil.
• Discharge from municipal waste, oil-well blowouts, deliberate and accidental release of bilge and ballast water from ships are among the main factors driving the formation of these pollutants.
• Tarballs can be hazardous to human life due to the presence of Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria whose entry through wounds could be fatal, according to scientifics studies.
• These petroleum blobs also affect marine biodiversity in several ways, such as disturbing turtle habitats. This in turn, augments the impact on humans who consume marine fish.
• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Apex Court, in several cases, have held the polluters liable for oil spills and other actions that have harshly impacted the marine environment.
• In the Samir Mehta vs Union of India and Ors, the NGT bench of Justice Swatanter Kumar upheld the “precautionary principle” and the “polluter pays” principle, along with the fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

Legal provisions

• The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in 1972 in Stockholm strongly impacted the environmental laws of various countries and provided a solid foundation for the protection of the environment.
• India’s participation in the conference resulted in the Environment (Protection Act), 1986 that was enforced to prevent and control hazards of the environment and human life.
• Part IV of the Indian constitution (Article 48A – one of the Directive Principles of the state policy), has also empowered the state to create laws and policies to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, was one such instance.
  • Sections 16 and 17 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, conferred several functions upon the central and state pollution control boards. Among them is the role of devising plans and advising governments on the control of water pollution.
• The environment and forests ministry had also issued coastal regulation zone notification in 2011 for the following:
  • Ensure livelihood security to the fishing communities and other local communities of coastal areas
  • Protecting and conserving coastal stretches
  • Promoting growth sustainably based on scientific principle and taking into account the perils of natural hazards in the coastal areas and sea-level rise caused by global warming.