High tide brings a sea of garbage in Mumbai

  • | Saturday | 14th July, 2018

Although it did not rain heavily on Saturday, during the high tide at noon, seawater flooded areas close to the sea at some spots.Activists said the garbage, which mainly comprises plastic, is harmful to marine life. The hearing is at its final stage.Activists said most garbage is dumped by slum dwellers due to lack of awareness about disposal. They warned that floating trash brooms installed by the BMC at some places are “not very effective”. Environmentalist D Stalin said, “Floating brooms can only catch floating material, not that which sinks deep into the water due to its weight. During higher high tides, more garbage gets washed ashore.

MUMBAI: The sea threw out as much as 361 tonne of garbage on the city’s beaches and seafronts during Friday and Sarturday’s high tides.The BMC managed to collect 226 tonne of the total garbage from just the 10km interconnected stretch of Juhu and Versova beaches.Sunday will see the season’s highest high tide at 4.97 metres. Saturday saw its second highest high tide at 4.96m; on Friday, the high tide rose to 4.8m.While pointing out that the quantum of garbage will only increase on Sunday, civic officials said the collection drive along the seafronts and beaches continued till late on Saturday.The BMC has deployed extra men and vehicles along the seafronts to collect garbage during the weekend. Although it did not rain heavily on Saturday, during the high tide at noon, seawater flooded areas close to the sea at some spots.Activists said the garbage, which mainly comprises plastic, is harmful to marine life. They warned that floating trash brooms installed by the BMC at some places are “not very effective”. Environmentalist D Stalin said, “Floating brooms can only catch floating material, not that which sinks deep into the water due to its weight. Netting the drains, nullahs and rivers is the only option to stop garbage from entering the sea.”Stalin has approached the National Green Tribunal for the netting project to prevent garbage from entering the sea and depositing into mangroves and disturbing biodiversity. The hearing is at its final stage.Activists said most garbage is dumped by slum dwellers due to lack of awareness about disposal. Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner, K-West Ward, under whose jurisdiction Juhu and Versova fall, said, “During monsoon, the quantity of garbage thrown by the sea increases four to five times. During higher high tides, more garbage gets washed ashore. We deployed 150 labourers along with required machinery to clean Juhu-Versova during low tide.”

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