Sea pollution has dropped steeply by 45% in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) General Manager Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara said.

He told Daily Mirror that the data was collected through a survey conducted by a team from MEPA on pollution in the coastal belt and oceans in Trincomalee, Galle, Matara, Kalutara, Wellawatte, Dehiwala and Negombo.

“During the analysis, we found that sea pollution had plummeted by 40 to 45 per cent. Faecal pollution of water or water contamination has dwindled. A reduction of 30 per cent was observed in nitrate and phosphate pollution of water," he said.

"The coronavirus pandemic has greatly contributed to this condition. Some other factor that could have resulted in this may include less river flow due to low rainfall and monsoon rains not being active and minimum consumption of fertiliser despite the harvesting season,” he said, adding that these data could be used as a baseline to compare the situation in the future. (Sheain Fernandopulle)