PARADIP:THE rampant dumping of waste, including plastics, along the seashore here has posed a threat to the marine life and increased the pollution levels. Not just the waste from the households or local establishments, garbage from the vessels also litter the port area, sources said.
Thousands of visitors, including children, are compelled to inhale polluted air due to the heaps of garbage on the sea beach. Sources said residents of port town, Sandhkuda and other slums release garbage into the sea directly, without considering its consequences.
Moreover, the sea beach has been literally turned into a dumping yard after Kalinga Baliyatra. In such a scenario, the members of a voluntary organisation organised an event on Tuesday to spread awareness on pollution due to dumping of plastics. Under this initiative, they urged visitors to spend at least two minutes for removing plastics from the beach.
Meanwhile, experts in the port town expressed their concern over the increasing marine pollution in the area. Regional officer, Odisha State Pollution Control Board Mukesh Mahaling said the department had been receiving complaints about floating animal carcasses, apparently being dumped into the sea.
“We don’t have the authority to issue warning to these vessels because areas under 5 km radius from seashore comes under our jurisdiction as per the State Modern Maritime Bill 2016,” he added.
Marine pollution adversely affects Olive Ridley turtles, dolphins, crabs, corals and other marine spices. “If the corals die due to pollution, what will the fish feed on?” the environmentalists asked.
In the absence of proper guidance and awareness on garbage disposal mechanism, locals use the light house area as a dump yard, experts claimed.
“Oceans are increasingly getting polluted. All kinds of waste, be it from vessels, trawlers, boats, festivals, drains, or industrials units, are finding their way into the sea. Marine pollution has caused the death of marine species, including turtles,” said Director of Nature Drive Trust of India Prafulla Patnaik.