Tar balls pollute Juhu beach

For thousands of tourists visiting Mumbai’s famous Juhu beach, it was not a picturesque sight on Monday evening as large amount of greasy oil balls was found deposited along a long stretch of the beach. By late evening there were also reports of small oil deposits at Girgaum Chowpatty beach as well.

Juhu resident Reagan Creado who reported the oil on the beach while on his evening walk said, “While there were balls of oils mixed with sand for almost half a kilometer I could even see the oil floating on the surface of the water. The worst patches of the beach were opposite Novotel hotel where the condition seemed worse as there was heavy deposition,” he said.

As per experts tar ball pollution has severe consequences on not only destroying the scenic beauty of the beach but as it also threatens the marine life like crabs, shrimps and others species. This also happens to be an annual phenomenon beginning May and goes on till monsoon end.

“After getting information about Juhu I checked with some locals from Girgaum beach and they confirmed that they too have seen small patches of tar balls deposited but not as much as Juhu. It could be due to deliberate oil spill or large amounts of oil being discharged by some tanker or ships near the coast,” said marine enthusiast Pradip Patade adding that since this the is time when South west monsoon winds begins setting in and the winds become stronger the oil discharge is carried to the shore and the beaches are the worst hit. 

Patade shared that MPCB too needs to check if oil was being deliberately discharged in the sea and ensure stricter norms.