Crude Neglect

Every monsoon, many whites and beaches along India’s west coast are encrusted in black by waves of oil and tar balls. This year, the pollution arrived unusually early: Normally washing ashore in June first week, it was already defacing beaches along the Konkan coast by May 9. Of all the environmental crises along India’s coastline, the accumulation of oil-spills and tar-balls is among those least discussed in the public domain. Beach clean-up initiatives focus on plastic and debris.

In April 2026, the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change issued the draft ‘Tar balls Management Rules, 2026’. For the first time, the Centre acknowledged the need to control oil spills and tar balls, hardened residues formed from weathered oil that wash ashore during monsoon tides.

The acknowledgement is welcome, since simultaneously, mega-ports and allied activities designed to increase shipping traffic are underway at intervals along the coastline: Increased shipping traffic on this already busy shipping route will require extremely stringent and enforceable controls to avoid severe impacts on fisheries, biodiversity, tourism and, through carcinogenic contamination of the food cycle, even human health.

Over the past three decades, several major oil spills have been reported along India’s western coast. These include the Kochi shipwreck in May 2025, officially declared a disaster by the Kerala govt; a ship collision in Alang, Gujarat, in 2024; oil spills linked to ONGC operations in Maharashtra in 2023 and 2013; and the Mumbai ship collision of 2010.

However, experts say these headline incidents represent only a fraction of the problem. Environmental group Awaaz Foundation and studies by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) have documented recurring smaller oil spills along the Konkan coast for more than 25 years.

An NIO study published in Dec 2025 identified 1,190 oil spills in the Arabian Sea between 2017 and 2019 through remote sensing. Notably, no major oil spill incidents were officially reported during that period. The study observed that many spills “go unnoticed by the public and unrecorded by authorities”, making monitoring difficult.

The sources of these unreported spills remain unclear. Another NIO study from 2019 found that tar balls washing ashore originate from shipping-related oil spills, offshore oil rigs and tanker washing. Tanker washing at sea is prohibited under the international MARPOL convention because of its severe environmental consequences. India is a signatory to MARPOL, though the MoEFCC draft notification does not refer to it.

During the monsoon, rough seas and ocean currents push oil residues ashore as tar balls. These deposits can persist in coastal waters and sediments for decades after the original spill. Simultaneous deposits across multiple states demonstrate how widely the contamination spreads through marine currents and winds. Tar-balls are recognized carcinogens since they contain toxic heavy metals and can enter the human food chain through contaminated fish.

In 2025, India’s marine fish production reached 35.7 lakh tonnes, a 3% increase from the previous year. Kerala accounted for 17% of that total, even under restrictions imposed following the Kochi shipwreck. The fisheries sector received its highest-ever Union Budget allocation of Rs 2,703.67 crore in 2025-26.

The National Biodiversity Authority has repeatedly stressed the need to protect coastal ecosystems and integrate biodiversity preservation into the fisheries sector. In the foreword to a 2018 report, agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan Swami identified oil spills as a major threat to marine biodiversity and fisheries.

Tourism faces similar stakes. The tourism ministry’s annual report 2025-26 describes the sector as one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the country. Kerala built its brand, God’s Own Country, on the natural beauty of its coastlines.

Meanwhile, compensation claims linked to the Kochi shipwreck remain unresolved and are still under litigation in the high court.
The MoEFCC’s draft notification proposes to formulate a state-level crisis management plan. However, beyond a reporting procedure for tar-ball sightings, it does not offer any scope for stakeholders’ involvement, including NGOs, people who use the beaches, or the fishing community. Awaaz Foundation has sent suggestions/objections demanding representation, transparent public disclosure of all findings and stringent consequences.

It is crucially important, while driving India’s GDP growth forward, to consider all aspects of economic growth together. Development of new infrastructure growth to support shipping, ports and other infrastructure must go hand in hand with other crucial growth sectors.

Even if the notification is finalised promptly, a committee will take at least another year to form. Meanwhile, tar-balls are already on the beaches. Our health, livelihoods, environment, and international commitments are at stake. Will the govt take the massive damage caused by oil spills and tar balls with the seriousness it deserves?

(The writer is an environmentalist and founder of Awaaz Foundation)