Thick foam covers Pattinapakkam beach after heavy rain batters city

As heavy rains abated and water flow in rivers increased, thick white foam covered the beach off Pattinapakkam on Wednesday.

Fishermen attributed it to a change in the direction of the wind and the currents.

“Usually we get the foam when the wind changes. Churning too happens in the sea. However it is yet to reach our area,” said Karunakaran, a fisherman of Urur Kuppam, which is to the south of Pattinapakkam.

Fishing community leader K. Bharathi said that though foaming was a phenomenon found usually this time of the year, the reasons given by government bodies that this could result due to high contents of soap residue in the sludge washed out from the Adyar River is not acceptable.

“People actually bathe and wash clothes in rivers in other places but we don’t see foaming due to soap residue in those estuaries. This foaming seems to be the result of industries emptying their chemical wastes into the rivers. Stern action must be taken on such units,” he said.

Another community leader Kabaddi Maran, said that estuaries were places where fish laid eggs and young fish stay safe. This activity happens during the monsoon when fishing is reduced. If such foam keeps coming, fish will not feel that this estuary is safe and it will ultimately lead to loss of livelihood to fishermen.