Kochi, May 29 -- The Kerala government on Wednesday announced the deployment of volunteers and drone surveys to get rid of plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, which were found in large quantities across the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram after a Liberia-flagged cargo vessel sank off the coast of Kerala earlier this week.

The nurdles were likely being transported among other cargo items on the vessel and are suspected to have broken out of the containers when they fell into the sea, officials aware of the matter said.

Nurdles are foundational material in the manufacture of a wide range of plastic products and white in colour. According to A Biju Kumar, a senior professor in the department of aquatic biology and fisheries at the ...