Mumbai fishermen fear Ganesh visarjan debris, but flag sewage, plastic and overfishing too

The debris and the PoP left behind on Mumbairsquos beaches led to stricter rules last year with Ganesh idols up to six feet being immersed in artificial ponds the rest were taken to sea The debris is taken care of by authorities NGOs and the fishermen too The story has gone beyond environmental devastation due to the abandoned drowned and resurfacing idolsThe immediate result of visarjan cannot be negated Fishermen say that they have to sift and remove not just POP which is found soon after but wooden panels iron rods nuts bolts and screws used to build the Ganesh idols This shallowwater debris is no worry for the bigger boats but those who fish in creeks fear snagged nets and a drop in their catchPrachi Hatkar and Rohit JoshildquoThe bigger boats that go deeper in the sea wonrsquot face much of a problem owing to the visarjan However the coastline Kolis that fish closer to the shore especially women fisherfolk that donrsquot go into deeper seas may bear the brunt after the seasonrdquo said Devendra Damodar Tandel from the All Maharashtra Fishermenrsquos Action CommitteeWhile fishermen inform that most of the PoP is collected by the authorities in the days following the visarjan many say that the sediments of the material may still be present at the seabed while the chemicals from the paint may affect the marine presence tooBhushan Nijai and Devendra TandelOne such situation is seen in Mahim where those who go beyond the sea link donrsquot face as much trouble but the boats fishing only up to the sea link remain alert ldquoWe donrsquot think that the fish have reduced but many fishermen are worried about their nets snagging In the rsquo90s my own boatrsquos hull was ruptured due to an iron rod that floated in the sea after visarjanrdquo said Bhushan Nijai from the Mahim KoliwadaFestival close to homeThe issue hits closer to home because the community members also remain devout worshippers of Ganpati ldquoWe try to keep clay or shaadu murtis at our own homes However sometimes while we would go fishing we would accidentally step on remnants of other PoP murtis at the beach and it would sting our heartsrdquo said Nijai who no longer fishes owing to the change in the environment and differing labour flowsThe issue persists in Palghar as well ldquoWhile the number fluctuates widely on average coastline fishermen may make Rs 5000 to 6000 with their catch A dent in these earnings can affect their livelihoods which is why we wrote to the municipal body about controlling idol immersions last year and we will do so this year toordquo said Bhuvaneshvar Dhanu from the Palghar fishermen associationBlip on the radarWhen Sunday midday spoke with fisherfolk at Cuffe Parade many informed that the community has been facing much larger issues and Ganesh visarjan was the least of their concerns ldquoWe ensure that all Ganapati visarjans are done responsibly and it barely affects our business compared to our other daytoday problems Everyone even passersby litter our coast and thatrsquos what we end up catching when we throw our nets Overfishing and the changing climate have already made this profession very unpredictable A festival that we all enjoy has never been on our radar of troublesrdquo said a KolilsquoDonrsquot underestimate visarjan impactrsquoMarine biologist Prachi Hatkar said ldquoGanapati visarjan is a seasonal disturbance to Mumbairsquos coastal ecosystem and its impact should not be underestimated Idols made from Plaster of Paris PoP can persist in the marine environment while paints coatings and decorative materials may introduce chemicals or metals into the water and sedimentsrdquoHowever other factors cannot be negated she added ldquoBeach cleanups are important but they primarily address visible debris they cannot alone deal with pollutants that have already entered the water or sediment Ganapati visarjan is not the only or necessarily the largest threat facing Mumbairsquos marine ecosystem Yearround pressures such as sewage discharge plastic pollution habitat alteration coastal development and overfishing exert continuous stress Therefore the goal should be to reduce avoidable pollution from visarjan while simultaneously tackling these chronic pressures Adopting naturalclay idols safer paints designated immersion sites and systematic postimmersion monitoring canmake the celebration considerably more environmentally responsiblerdquo she addedlsquoSeasonal shock to juvenile fishrsquoEnvironmentalist Rohit Joshi said ldquoThe consequences of the PoP debris from festivities are unmistakably longterm Nonbiodegradable PoP sediment remains embedded in marine substrate for decades More critically heavy metals from oil and chemical paints do not break down they enter the marine food web through plankton and bioaccumulate in commercially consumed fish shellfish and crabsrdquoldquoYearround industrial effluents and untreated municipal sewage create chronic baseline toxicity Ganesh immersion injects an acute concentrated biological and chemical shock directly onto that already fragile baseline This seasonal shock directly wipes out surviving juvenile fish populations in nursery zones rendering the marine environment far less resilient against routine stressorsrdquo he added