“We heard of the collision Saturday but had no idea of the magnitude. It was only when villagers went outdoors on Monday morning that they found the entire coastline covered in oil slick,” said Sudhir Mhatre, a villager. The beach is also covered with packets of tablets, biscuits, tea bags and other material from the containers.

“Butcher Island, controlled by the Mumbai Port Trust, too has its coastline covered in oil,” said Chandrakant Koli, 17, a local fisherman.

Whenever there is an oil spill, the effect is seen after two days when dead marine creatures are washed off the shore or start floating. “There used to be oil spills earlier but these had never reached the coastline,” said Vasant Gharat, a villager and a former gram panchayat member.

Elephanta Island, a UNESCO world heritage site, is around 11 nautical miles off Mumbai. It has three villages — Morabunder, Rajbunder and Shetbunder — and a population of around 1,200, who mostly work in one or the other of 12 Central and state government offices. They also earn from tourism. “We fear the effect of the oil on plant and animal life will hamper tourism and in turn our livelihood,” said Mhatre.

Villagers said several containers have been floating off the island; one “dangerously” hit the jetty. Villagers tied the container to the jetty.

The slick has also affected the mangroves around the island, particularly Morabunder and Rajbunder. “The slick has now settled due to the low tide, but during high tide the many birds that thrive along the coastline will be severely affected,” Gharat said.

Neither the sarpanch nor the deputy sarpanch was present in the village on Monday. When contacted. deputy collector (Panvel-Raigad) Pandurang Magdum, said, “The oil slick has not reached the island. We will visit the island on Tuesday. It has not hit the Uran and Mora coasts yet.”