Fishermen in a panic after tarballs wash up on beaches

Say these balls are an indication of deliberate oil spillage by tankers that has been killing marine life along the coast

Huge balls of tar washed up along the coast of Bordi (near Dahanu), Kelwe (Palghar), Pachubandar, Kalamb (in Vasai), Arnala (in Virar), Uttan (Bhayandar) in the past few weeks have got local fishermen extremely worried. Fishermen say the tarballs are indication of a deliberate oil spillage from huge tankers at mid-sea and also means that the fish are dying because of it.
    "Fishermen are very worried as there is a drop in the marine catch due to the oil spillage," said Rambhau Patil, president, Maharashtra Machimar Kriti Samiti (a fishermen welfare association). "Ever since the season commenced from August 15, the catch has reduced considerably because the fish have been dying after becoming trapped in the oil," added Suresh Tare, a fisherman from Satpati, a fishing village, near Virar.
    Tarballs are formed when saline water is mixed with oil (common during the monsoons) and during high tide these tarballs are deposited on the beaches. Earlier, very few and very small tarballs were washed up, but of late, the quantity and size have increased, said Patil. He has directly blamed the spillage on huge tankers that deliberately discharge oil mid-sea to lighten their load.
    He has complained several times to the Maharashtra Maritime Board and other agencies to check the menace, but no action has been taken. After similar tarballs were seen in the above areas in 2005, scientists from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur along with the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board, checked tarball samples. They said hydrocarbons in the tarballs were very low and did not cause much damage to the environment or to marine life. However, Patil says if tarballs do not have low hydrocarbons, how come when they are lit there is a huge ball of fire. He has demanded another study.

Tarballs (Inset) are formed along the coast due to the mixing of saline water with oil