LAUSR

Coastal pollution and encroachment in India are ever-growing issues, for which the Indian government drafted coastal regulation notifications for better management. However, many violations have occurred but not documented due to paucity in data. In recent decades, remote sensing tools are widely used to estimate encroachment and violations, where such official data are not available. This study uses satellite imagery to estimate violations that have occurred in the years 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2019, along the coastal regions of Maharashtra, India. Spatiotemporal variations in violations were assessed and classified into four violation classes:  < 25%, 25–50%, 50–75% and  > 75%. Over the study period, violations in the class > 75% increased by 110% while violations in the < 25% class decreased by 10%, indicating not a reduction in low violations, but a significant conversion of low to maximum violation scenarios. Particularly, metropolitan areas like Mumbai had higher violations when compared to other areas. Reasons for these violations include increased urbanization and regional occupations like fishing. This study has provided information on hotspots of violation areas that could help reformulate, execute and inspect the coastal regulations.