Status of oil pollution along the Indian coast

Abstract

The Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal have been estimated to annually receive around 5 x 10 sup(6) and 4 x 10 sup(5) t/y petroleum respectively from routine discharges from oil tankers and other ships plying the shipping lanes originating from the Middle East. This estimate appears to be exaggerated and needs reexamination since, the total input of oil to the World oceans is considered to be 2.145 x 10 sup(6) t/y. Consequently, tar balls and oily residue are a common sight on many beaches of countries including India, bordering the Indian Ocean. Further, damage to coral reefs of Andaman and Nicobar Island due to coating with oil residues has been reported. With the consumption of petroleum products in India increasing from 5.5 x 10 sup(7) t during 1990-91 to 8.8 x 10 sup(7) t during 1997-98 and domestic production remaining nearly stagnant at around 3.3 x 10 sup(7) t/y, it has become inevitable to increasingly import crude oil and its products thereby exposing the coastal segments to oil pollution. Moreover, accelerated efforts in offshore oil prospecting in several areas of the continental shelf of India further enhance to vulnerability of the coastal zone to oil induced degradation.