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Marine Debris in India: Quantifying Type and Abundance of Beach Litter Along Chennai, East Coast of India

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Smart Technologies for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes on Multidisciplinary Industrial Engineering ((LNMUINEN))

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Abstract

Though numerous studies on marine debris are conducted with an emphasis on analyzing the composition, quantification, and distribution on beaches around the globe, studies are still restricted to some areas of the coast, and the quantities and the spatiotemporal patterns are unknown for the Indian Coastline. NOAA Marine Debris Program methodology was used to collect and quantify various debris along the two beaches in Chennai, East coast of India. On four occasions, debris were collected and were categorized according to the type, quantity, and source. The results demonstrate that the shoreline and recreational activities to be the major source of beach debris. Also, the results show a strong correlation between coastal activities and debris type, and this difference in debris sources explain the importance of framing different management and prevention strategies at different beaches. The study highlights the requirement to establish long-term monitoring protocols, to address the existing knowledge gap on marine debris impacts on the Indian coastline.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the volunteers involved in sample collection and reviewers for their suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Landscape Ecology and Visualization Laboratory, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India

    A. Arun Kumar

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Technology, Kancheepuram, India

    R. Sivakumar, Y. Sai Rutwik, T. Nishanth & V. Revanth

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Graphic Era University, Dehradun, India

    Sanjeev Kumar

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  1. A. Arun Kumar
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  2. R. Sivakumar
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  4. T. Nishanth
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  6. Sanjeev Kumar
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Correspondence to A. Arun Kumar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Power Engineering (Smart Grid and Renewable Energy), Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Mohan Lal Kolhe

  2. Water Technology and Management, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Nagpur, India

    Pawan Kumar Labhasetwar

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

    H. M. Suryawanshi

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Arun Kumar, A., Sivakumar, R., Sai Rutwik, Y., Nishanth, T., Revanth, V., Kumar, S. (2019). Marine Debris in India: Quantifying Type and Abundance of Beach Litter Along Chennai, East Coast of India. In: Kolhe, M., Labhasetwar, P., Suryawanshi, H. (eds) Smart Technologies for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development. Lecture Notes on Multidisciplinary Industrial Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6148-7_23

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