The Coast

The call of gulls wafts over the roar of surf. Countless million tiny creatures scurry about the sands in search of food brought in by nourishing tides. Rock pools, awash with life, glisten in the dawn of each new day. The thin ribbon of land that rims India, which we take so much for granted, exhibits unparalleled topographical diversity throughout its length. Mangrove swamps, tidal creeks, mudflats, sandy beaches, coral shores, cliffs and jagged rocky stretches adorn the Indian subcontinent like a ragged, jewelled necklace.

Starting at the Pakistan border, the Indian shoreline extends over nearly 5,500 km., from Gujarat in the west, down along the Konkan and Malabar coasts, around Kanyakumari and then up along the Coromandel coast to Bengal's Sundarbans, to continue into Bangladesh. A delicate, carefully structured ecosystem, the coastline must fight to maintain a perfect equilibrium in the face of the most powerful force on Earth - the sea. To cope with an incessant battering from wind driven waves, a series of barriers fortify coasts. To begin with, tropical seas are studded with reefs, composed of delicate coral communities, which act as breakwaters to restrain the waves. Sand bars then act on the waters to further temper their force. Mudflats and mangrove swamps act as the final barriers, causing the might of the sea to be tamed. It is in these habitats that some of the world's most fascinating and vital marine nurseries exist. This is a little understood, inadequately documented zone. Left in the control of ancient tribal people like Kolis, the legendary fishermen of western India, our shores would have stayed forever pure and productive. But the destiny of this ecosystem, like that of the Himalaya, is in the hands of those who live far from it.

For the most part the valuable Indian coast is treated as a garbage dump. Industries and municipalities discharge untreated effluents into the sea, polluting not just the water, but the land as well. Cement and steel plants rip corals from reefs, unmindful of the resultant losses caused to inland areas on account of shore erosion.

Ironically, sandy beaches, so vital to the breeding success of marine organisms such as turtles, also attract humans who flock to beaches in search of peace and tranquillity. Unfettered tourism, however, is perhaps the single largest threat to beaches today, after industry. Several years ago, the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who understood the value of the shoreline, stipulated that a zone extending 500 metres from the high tide mark would be out of bounds for 'developers'. It is tragic that her son, ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, chose to dilute this resolve by approving the reduction of the distance to 200 metres. It is unlikely that the current government will see things any different, for there is a genuine lack of understanding of the value and fragility of natural ecosystems in the minds of economists and planners. In any event, taking their cue from the apparent lack of real concern, builders including some of the most prestigious hotel chains like the Taj Group have violated even the 200 metre limitation in Goa. They have recently been served a notice to pull down their structures, but it is tragic that even issues of survival must be fought for in courts as each group looks only as far as their vested interests go.

As if the situation were not bad enough, local populations, ignored by blinkered planners, fend for themselves by brutalising delicate mangrove systems for fuelwood and fodder, all along the Indian coast. This last assault virtually assassinates the besieged shoreline and it speaks for the resilience of nature that it has withstood our wayward ways for over four decades, before beginning to succumb to our abuse. Today India's shorelines are among the most polluted, defiled ecosystems on Earth.

Biology of the Coast

Dugongs, marine turtles, estuarine crocodiles and a myriad waders constitute the most obvious 'wildlife' of the shore and near-shore habitat. Creatures such as crabs, lobsters, oysters, jellyfish, puffer fish, octopus and sea slugs can easily be observed by those venturing into the coral belts. Mudskippers - fish that can stay out of water for lengthy periods of time - inhabit the mudflats and mangroves as do several species of reptiles, including snakes and monitors. Salt tolerance is a vital characteristic of the plants of coastal belts and mangroves are unquestionably the most successful examples of such adaptation.

Few people appreciate just how critical salinity balances are, or the disastrous consequences to shore dwelling creatures, as a result of changes in temperature or salinity. Dams and barrages, toxic effluents and large-scale discharge of superheated water from nuclear reactors and industries are prime culprits. Yet the industrialisation of critical ecozones proceeds unhindered. Little thought for instance, has been spared for the lethal environmental effects of the 'development' of the Haldia region in West Bengal. In the same State, industry threatens to encroach on the Sundarbans mangroves. At the other end of the Indian coast, plans are afoot to build a dam across the Gulf of Cambay, which is intended to be converted into a huge 2,400 sq. km. fresh water lake. Apart from the fact that the proposal is ridiculous because siltation would choke the reservoir within a few short years, little thought has been given to the fact that an - entire marine ecosystem would perish.

Such interferences adversely affect the breeding success of innumerable marine organisms such as ever, is perhaps the single largest threat to beaches shrimps, lobsters, sharks and other fish which spawn inland. Falling fish-catches near our shores can safely be attributed to the abuse of marine ecosystems (coupled with the destruction of spawning grounds by mechanised trawlers). By destroying these nurseries we are literally snatching the only reliable source of protein available to millions of rural poor who live on, or near our coasts. It is thought that well over half of India's coastal fish are more or less completely dependent upon mangroves and estuaries which are able to re-cycle detritus to optimum advantage.

It is only recently that the biological and economical value of coasts has come to be accepted. Kerala, for instance, has been forced to spend over Rs. 400 crore per annum to counter the effects of shore erosion and pollution, caused in the main by mining corals, radioactive sands and deforesting mangroves.

How rich mangroves are can be gauged by statistics from surveys done in the Pichavaram area of Tamil Nadu. 200 species of fish, about 30 species of prawns and as many species of molluscs and crabs have been recorded here. Over 2,000 species of biological lifeforms, from bacteria, fungi, lichens, plants, protozoa, crustaceans, insects, reptiles, birds and mammals are closely associated with the Indian mangroves - many are yet unrecorded.

Amongst the least-known and most unique animals of the coastal zone is the dugong or the sea-cow, a sluggish marine mammal, recorded in the Gulf of Kutchh, on the Malabar coast and in the Gulf of' Mannar, where it was once abundant (locals relished its meat). Today the dugong is an uncommon animal over its patchy range. Some of the other coastal wildlife of much concern today are the salt-water or estuarine crocodiles whose distribution has become considerably fragmented. The olive Ridley, Hawksbill, leathery and several other turtles, including a few estuarine turtles, most of which depend upon the coastal beaches and mudflats for breeding, are all threatened.

Conservation status

Of India's approximately 5,500 km. long coastline, less than 500 km. receives protection under the National Park and Sanctuary network. The east coast is somewhat better protected than the west, but even so such defence is hopelessly inadequate.

It is difficult to ascribe a precise 'area' to the coastal zone (in terms of sq. km.). Individual features such as shallow coastal lagoons, or expanses of mangrove may be measurable, but some mudflats, for instance really belong to the sea, even though they lie exposed for much of the day! There are other problems when trying to visualise the precise extent of protection received by our shoreline. In terms of area covered, the mangroves, lagoons and creeks adjoining the coastal belts have, for instance, been considered as part of the protected area network. We thus find that the extensive Sundarbans mangroves of the Gangetic-Brahmaputra delta account for more than half of West Bengal's total protected area. Forming a part of Project Tiger, the forests along with the contiguous mangroves of Bangladesh, form one of the largest protected mangrove sites anywhere. But in terms of sea-front protection, the percentage for the whole Indian coast is still abysmally low. Other mangrove areas at the mouths of some of the Indian rivers, notably the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and patches around the Cauvery receive very little protection.

Without doubt India possesses several shore habitats of outstanding conservation value, such as Pirotan in the Gulf of Kutchh which has been declared a Marine Park. However, with unfettered industrial pollution and a Gujarat State sanction allowing the grazing of camels in adjoining mangroves, the future of Pirotan seems bleak. The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, one of the richest biological treasure troves in India is in need of immediate and intensive protection if it is to recover from past abuse. Point Calimere, in Tamil Nadu is a wetland that houses blackbuck in addition to playing home to a wide variety of waterfowl and must be accorded national park status immediately. Pichavaram, likewise, requires to be declared a sanctuary. Chilika, in Orissa, is a vast brackish lake, which should be declared a National Park, but is currently being overexploited. The mangroves of Bhitarkanika too need more protection. The arribada (arrival) phenomenon of nesting olive Ridley turtles in Gahirmata, Orissa, suggests that protection should be afforded to this world famous beach.