KANNUR: A detailed study is required to find
out the cause of frequent incidents of dead dolphins and whales washing ashore
along the Kerala coast, and it should be initiated as a multi-institutional
project involving organizations having expertise in their respective field,
said a report submitted by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) who had
conducted a study on the occurrences.
The report also suggested various measures
including steps to prevent the solid waste and sewage disposal. The ship
breaking yards functioning in the area should adopt the code of ship breaking
notified by the ministry of shipping, the report said.
The report submitted by Deepesh V, a
scientist with the CPCB said the state pollution control board (PCB) should
probe the incidences of indiscriminate solid waste disposal along the beaches
and coastal area, and appropriate actions should Also, there were unconfirmed
reports about biomedical waste being dumped in the sea at Kannur, and the CPCB
team asked the authorities concerned to investigate this and take necessary
actions. "The state PCB has to maintain routine vigil on incidences like
beaching of dead marine mammals and mass fish kill, and a task force should be
set up to monitor this at regular intervals and reports must be filed with
state government," the report suggested.
Since there were complaints that the waste
from the ship breaking unit of the Steel Industries Kerala Ltd (SILK) at
Azhikkal could also be one reason for the death of dolphins, the team had
inspected the site and found that there were several spillages of oil and
materials like paint scraps on the land and also the code of ship breaking notified
by the ministry of shipping was not being followed. The experts also visited
other locations including Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Alappuzha, where dolphin
death cases were reported.
According to M K Satheesh Kumar, professor at
department of atomic and molecular physics, Manipal University, who had
assisted the team in the study, there could be various reasons including the
rise in sea surface temperature, toxicity in the sea waters, noise pollution
from increased sea traffic, and rampant marine pollution due to indiscriminate
dumping of plastic and waste water that cause the death of dolphins. "It
is a matter of serious environmental consequences and hence the issue should be
studied deeply," he suggested.
The CPCB initiated the study on the basis of
the report, 'Rising cases of dolphin and turtle deaths spark concern',
published in TOI on March 30, 2016, and also the representation made by Rajya
Sabha MP Richard Hay to the ministry of environment, forests and climate change
(MoEFCC) seeking a detailed study into it.
Source: times of india. 28 March 2017
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