When you arrive at Suruchi Beach, the view is far from magnificent. The air, though slightly crisp, carries a smell of degrading waste, and the beach seems like a dumping ground for all kinds of waste, from discarded plastic bottles to cigarette packets. At some places, garbage piles act as a perch for birds watching the sea.

Every year, in April, The Jacobin Cuckoo or Pied Crested Cuckoo, flies from East Africa to India, and can be spotted at Suruchi beach. Pic/Shadab Khan

Considering that the area is hardly inhabited — except for a few hutments and villages, we enquire about the source of this garbage. “This is a gift of Mumbai,” sighs Pravin Subramaniam, a bird enthusiast, photographer and our guide for the trail. “All the garbage dumped into the Arabian Sea is accumulated along the Western coastline,” he adds.