Abstract
The coast of Kerala is dotted with 31 kayals (estuaries) lying roughly parallel to the Lakshadweep sea and separated from it by a narrow strip of land 0.4 to 12 km wide. The abundant availability of coconut husk and the generally shallow nature of the kayals have led to the emergence of the coir industry as a massive cottage industry in the state. Fresh coconut husks, steeped in the shallow regions of kayals are allowed to remain soaked in water for periods ranging from 4–12 months. Retting is brought about by the pectinolytic activity of microorganisms liberating large amounts of organic matter and chemicals into the environment. The retting zones in estuaries are thus exposed to prolonged periods of anoxic condition resulting from a total oxygen depletion and remarkably high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide, thus causing extensive damage to the living, aquatic resources in the region. The paper deals with indicator organisms specific to pollution from retting of coconut husk in the kayals of Kerala.
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