Tide of change: Urgency of a national marine litter policy in India.

The rise of plastics in the 20th century revolutionized modern life but inadvertently exacerbated the marine litter crisis. The proliferation of wastes such as single-use plastics has escalated pollution along the coastline, demanding coordinated, decisive, and unified action. While the absence of specific national marine litter policies is concerning, there is growing recognition of urgency to address this issue. A group of experts and stakeholders was involved through a multi-staged workshop to assess the generated information based on scientific evidence and formulate a framework for the National Marine Litter Policy (NMLP). This paper proposes policy options (4 targets & 20 strategies) to address marine litter pollution, especially plastics, and aims to elucidate the urgency and significance of implementing an NMLP as a comprehensive strategy to combat plastics pollution. Implementing dedicated policies and action plans tailored to the unique challenges faced by each country is a vital step towards sustainable oceans.

Assessment of national beach litter composition, sources, and management along the Indian coast - a citizen science approach.

The present study evaluates the Pan-India beach litter density (items/m2), weight (kg/m2), composition (%), and probable sources based on the citizen science approach. A total of 33 beaches in 2019 and 30 beaches in 2021 were studied. Based on density, the national beach litter average was 0.475± 0.51 and 0.3 ± 0.4 items/m2 in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Plastic was the dominant litter type (65 % in 2019; 74 % in 2021) and Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) were predominant. Based on Clean-Coast Index, six beaches in 2019 and three beaches in 2021 are classified as "extremely dirty". The principal (∼60 %) sources of litter were tourism and public littering. Improving solid waste management, stringent implementation of environmental legislation, leveraging the polluter pays principle, monitoring the effectiveness of SUPs ban, generating awareness, and beach clean-up at regular intervals by engaging the public, educational, and non-governmental organizations will improve and sustain the cleanliness of beaches.

Occurrence, characterization, and source delineation of microplastics in the coastal waters and shelf sediments of the central east coast of India, Bay of Bengal.

The present study investigates the abundance, distribution, and characterization (shape, size, colour, chemical composition) of microplastics (MPs) in surface water and sediment from the shelf region of the central east coast of India. The surface water and sediment samples were collected at varying depths (12.8-63 m) from 21 locations covering ∼1200 km. The mean abundance of MPs in surface water and sediments were 5.3 × 104 particles. km-2, 209 ± 99 particles. kg-1 of dry weight, respectively. Stereomicroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and micro Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed for the quantification and characterization of the polymers. Polyolefin (polyethylene and polypropylene) were the dominant polymers in both surface water and sediments indicating their source primarily land based. Surface water and sediment MPs were mostly blue coloured. Fibre (77%) and fragment (38%) were the dominant morphotypes in surface water and sediments, respectively. Surface characteristics studies using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) highlight the breakdown progress of the particles; Small MPs (<1 mm) account for >50% of the whole and dominant in the offshore region (10 km). The results reveal that the primary sources of MPs are most likely to be originating from riverine fluxes and fishing-based activities.