SHWETA KAMAT MAHATME
PANAJI
Just as the monsoon ends and Goa’s beaches prepare to welcome larger numbers of tourists, a new study has raised concerns about the safety of the State’s recreational coastline. The study found that beaches harbour multidrug-resistant bacteria, even when conventional water quality assessments indicate favourable conditions. A study conducted by the Biological Oceanography Division and Chemical Oceanography Division of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), published on October 16, has found that water quality at several major recreational beaches deteriorates sharply during the monsoon, while bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics remain present across the beaches in both monsoon and non-monsoon seasons. The study assessed seasonal variations in the Water Quality Index (WQI) and Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Index (MARI) at 12 major recreational beach locations along Goa’s coast.
During the non-monsoon season, most of the beaches recorded ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ water quality ratings. However, conditions worsened considerably during the monsoon, when none of the beaches retained an ‘Excellent’ rating. “Results show that during the non-monsoon season most of the beaches studied had ‘Excellent’ and ‘Good’ WQI and in the monsoon season, a substantial deterioration in water quality was observed, as none of the beaches had ‘Excellent’ WQI and about 50 per cent of the beaches had ‘Poor’ or ‘Very Poor’ WQI,” the study said. “However, microbiological assessments based on the MARI of the pollution indicator organisms demonstrated the presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in both seasons across recreational beaches,” NIO said. The findings are significant for Goa, where beach tourism is a major contributor to the local economy and recreational waters are central to the State’s tourism appeal. Deteriorating water quality and the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria raise questions about whether conventional water quality assessments alone are sufficient to evaluate the safety of beaches used by tourists and residents.
A key finding of the study was the absence of a significant correlation between WQI and MARI. In other words, a favourable rating based on conventional physicochemical water quality parameters does not necessarily indicate the absence of multidrug-resistant bacteria.
“Correlation analysis between the WQI and MARI showed no significant correlation, that makes it evident that acceptable WQI is inadequate for evaluating the safety standards in recreational beaches,” the study said. Microbiological assessments of pollution indicator organisms detected multidrug-resistant bacteria during both seasons, suggesting that the potential public health concern is not restricted to the monsoon period.
The researchers have called for an integrated beach monitoring framework combining physicochemical water quality assessments with measurements of bacterial loads and antibiotic resistance among pollution indicator organisms. Such an approach, the study indicates, would provide a more comprehensive assessment of environmental conditions and potential public health risks at recreational beaches, helping strengthen coastal management and support sustainable tourism.
