Fishermen and activists raise alarm over microplastic pollution on Kanniyakumari coast, after debris from sunken ship washes ashore

The Hindu

2 days ago

The fishermen and the activists from the Kanniyakumari district have already been raising their concerns over the environment threats to their coastal habitat, including serious opposition against the proposed hydrocarbon project in the waters off Kanniyakumari.
Adding to the list, there are serious concerns about tiny plastic pellets (nurdles) which have been washing ashore for the past few days along the coastal areas of Kanniyakumari. Earlier they were detected as far as Kadiyapattinam from Neerodi, but currently the spread has extended to Rajakamangalamthurai.
While the debris that had washed ashore along the coastline of Kanniyakumari is described as non-hazardous, the pellets remain a dangerous pollutant. Their impacts and their breaking up into nano plastics, will eventually enter into the food chain, according to an activist from the district.
Johnson Charles, another activist from Colachel said the people of Kanniyakumari and Kerala were known for their dietary habits, where fish plays a huge role. He added, 'So far, these tiny plastic pellets had washed ashore along the coast of Kanniyakuamri and Kerala. But once the southwest monsoon intensifies, there are high chances they will drift even further than the current places.'
He noted that the sunken cargo vessel MSC ELSA 3 was carrying more than 600 containers, including containers having hazardous materials and other cargo carrying tiny plastic pellets and other materials. There was no adequate information available about the full list of contents. 'This will definitely cause prolonged and irreversible damage to the food chain,' he added.
The major impact of these microplastics are some aquatic organisms mistake them as food, while other species may intentionally feed on them. The ingestion of chemically contaminated microplastic may introduce toxic pollutants into marine organisms and more widely into the food web. While these microplastics settle in riverbeds and seafloors, impacting the dwelling organism like crabs ,mussels and benthic worms.
C. Berlin from Neythal Makkal Iyakkam, said, 'While officials are taking precautions to identify these materials and safely remove them, many unaware people from coastal hamlets are directly handling them out of curiosity, without knowing the risks involved.' He added that currently conservancy workers are engaged in removing these tiny pellets, but the government should take immediate actions to prevent the prolonged damage. He called for an accountability from the shipping company and responsible agencies.
'This is not just a local pollution issue, but a national environmental emergency in making,' mentioned Mr. Berlin.
Speaking to The Hindu Kanniyakumari District Collector R. Alagumeena noted that scientists and a team of experts were engaged in taking samples from the affected site, to study about the short and long term effects of these microplastics, noting that it was too early to comment on the issue.