Anthropogenic Activities and its Impact along the Coastal Region of Mangaluru, India

Mangaluru coast belt spreads about 22 Kms with Arabian Sea in the West and the Western Ghats in the East. Coastal anthropogenic activities such as disposal of untreated or partially treated sewage and industrial effluents and their possible impacts hinder the coastal environment. Huge amount of pollution load from the major industries located nearby are discharged into the sea directly or through the west flowing rivers of the area i.e. Gurupura and Nethravathi. Due to this, the soil properties also get affected. The preliminary study was carried out at the study area by considering surface water samples, i.e. stream water, river water, sea water and also soil samples to study the physicochemical characteristics. The study reveals that most of the surface water samples have low dissolved oxygen concentration and are high in BOD, COD, TDS, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Chlorides Concentration. Very low dissolved oxygen concentration was observed in the Gurupura–Nethravathi Estuary point. With respect to fertility of the soil, most of the soil samples were below the normal range for the various parameters.