Visakhapatnam: Bacteria high along shores

Visakhapatnam: Bacterial load or population in the seawater along the shoreline of urban Visakhapatnam is increasing at an alarming rate and there is an urgent need to monitor the coastal water continuously. The shoreline at Hindustan Shipyard and Fishing Harbour were found with the high distribution of bacteria due to the release of raw sewage and high fishing activities. This was found through a research work on the microbial evaluation of seawater at five main stations of the city shoreline by researchers of Andhra University Marine Living Resources.

As a part of the study, samples were taken from five stations, namely, Hindustan Shipyard, Fishing Harbour, Rama Krishna Beach, YMCA Beach, Tenneti Park. The study mainly focused only on the bacterial load and their cultural characteristics. The highest distribution of bacteria was observed at station-1 than 2 while the other three stations witnessed least bacteria count, according to the outcome of the study. For enumeration of bacteria, spread plate method was employed.  IMViC biochemical tests were conducted to find out bacterial characteristics up to genus level. Reflective microbial loads were identified as Escherichia Coli, Salmonella species, Pseudomonas species and Vibrio species. The result of the present study provides insight into the occurrence of pathogenic bacteria.

As the sewerage treatment plants are not adequate enough in the city to filter all sewage generating in the city, the wastes are released into sea untreated at many places. According to research studies of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) Visakhapatnam regional centre, there are many fishes in danger on the Vizag coast as they are losing their habitats under the impact of industrial effluents released into sea. Hilsa, Lethrinus, Polynemus and Threadfins are the major fish species experiencing a threat in the coast as per our surveys. Mass killings of these fishes are also seen sometimes.