Trash washes ashore in Karwar

The Rabindranath Tagore beach is driving tourists away as it is littered with garbage washed ashore. This has caused losses to the local fishermen too.

Trash from the sea is lining the shores from Aligadda to Kodibag, making it difficult for tourists to set foot there. The tourism industry has turned out to be the biggest casualty, said one of the securitymen on the coast.

Polluted water from Konenala in the city is getting mixed with the sea water, thus contaminating it. Plastic refuse and other dirt is also flowing into the sea.

The rain in the region has led to the overflowing of the Kali river, thus bringing with the flow forest waste and the litter thrown away by tourists. Roots of the Kandla trees are also flowing ashore, much to the chagrin of the local residents.

Scientists say 17 lakh cubic metres of silt which was removed from the harbour in December last year and dumped away at a distance of 20 nautical miles has been washed back ashore.

Fishermen here these days are netting more of the trash and less of fish, causing immense losses, said Nagesh Ulvekar, a local fisherman.

Ramu Gouda, a resident of the city, said, “It is common for trash to be washed ashore during the rainy season every year. But the garbage on the coast is huge this year. I have not seen so much garbage on the shore in my entire life.”