Under this model, used ship lube (lubricating or engine oil) – which causes significant marine pollution – will be purchased from the fishermen and reused for other purposes. Centres have been established at various locations across Ratnagiri for this purpose.
The Centre for Sustainable Development, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (CSD-GIPE), has come up with a circular economy model for the fishing community in the coastal Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra which not only provides employment but also helps prevent marine pollution. Under this model, used ship lube (lubricating or engine oil) – which causes significant marine pollution – will be purchased from the fishermen and reused for other purposes. Centres have been established at various locations across Ratnagiri for this purpose. A senior project officer from GIPE said that as of now, the project is being implemented only in Ratnagiri district but they will think about expanding it to other coastal districts as well.
Recently, a presentation on this project was held for the first time at the ‘Sagar Mahotsav’ in Ratnagiri. The programme was jointly organised by the Pune-based Aasamant Benevolence Foundation and GIPE. The project titled OCEAN (Oil Collection Environmental Action Network) was started in 2023 in association with the CSD-GIPE and S L Kirloskar Foundation. Pooja Sathe, research assistant, CSD-GIPE, said, “Marine Pollution has been a growing concern in recent years and oil pollution is among the biggest sources of marine pollution. Used lube oil or engine oil being thrown into the sea on a large scale is consumed by fish and also flows back to the shore, settling down there and ultimately affecting marine biodiversity. It has an adverse impact on the health of fish as well as humans. To address this issue, we plan to provide a sustainable solution involving used engine oil.”
Sathe informed that there were two options to begin with: one, providing technical solutions that would be complicated and time consuming and two, the circular economy model which not only provides employment as recyclers to the fishing community but also helps prevent marine pollution. A nine-month survey was conducted for this project in 2023 and around 192 people including fishermen, coast guards, the state pollution control board, local businessmen and a few others were interviewed regarding the use and reuse of engine oil. As per observations, big vessels refilled 15 litres of oil out of which 10 litres were drained while small vessels refilled around 7.5 litres of oil out of which 6.7 litres were drained. The oil changing frequency was two-and-a-half to three months except in the rainy season. In Maharashtra, there are around 19,000 registered vessels and approximately 6 lakh litres of used lubricant oil is dumped into the sea every year. Sathe said that they spoke to various recyclers licenced by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for the circular economy model. These recyclers were ready to accept the used lubricant oil for recycling on the condition that the GIPE would facilitate the collection route, Sathe said. As per the condition, four agents were appointed at 11 centres set up for depositing the used engine oil. The oil was later collected by the recyclers. For every one litre of oil, fishermen would get ₹20.
Gurudas Nulkar, director, CSD-GIPE, said, “This incentive-based solution was proven effective and within a span of two months between November and December 2024, we managed to prevent 500 litres of used oil from being dumped into the sea. The recycled oil is burned as boiler fuel or used for other lubrication purposes. Now we are planning to extend this project to other districts in coastal areas of Maharashtra. We will also be approaching the fisheries department of other states in India to try and convince them to facilitate the project in their jurisdiction.” There is a need for clear guidelines on the pollution caused by dumping of used lube oil and sensitisation needs to be carried out, Nulkar said.
The study: In order to overcome baseline data deficiency for conducting any scientific study in the coastal areas of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, a baseline study titled ‘Generation of a primary database of coastal areas near Ratnagiri town’ was carried out. The study was funded by Aasamant Benevolence Foundation and submitted in December 2024 by the geography department of R P Gogate and R V Joglekar College, an autonomous college in Ratnagiri. Surendra Thakurdesai, lead researcher of the study, said, “In recent years, the western coast of India has witnessed a surge in activity. The Konkan coast, located in southern Maharashtra, has drawn the attention of central and state governments, industries, and research agencies due to its largely underdeveloped areas. To conduct any coastal research, a common challenge is the scarcity of publicly accessible field data generated by various agencies for specific purposes. The study addresses this challenge and provides a comprehensive dataset representing the various parameters associated with coastal processes. The sole purpose of this study is to collect and share raw field data for scholars to use. The study provides insights into parameters like salinity, water PH level, temperatures and total dissolved solids etc.”