Estuaries are vital ecosystems that support diverse flora and fauna and are a major source of food and economic activities. Industrialization near coastal habitats has led to the increased presence of pollutants in coastal ecosystems. The estuary is a critical aquatic ecosystem supporting major industrial and residential settlements. But at the same time, it receives effluent discharges from these industrialized and urban settlements. India has one of the longest coastlines covering various coastal habitats, including estuaries. Estuaries in India's South-west and South-East coast are contaminated with different sources of heavy metal. In the present study, an attempt has been made to review heavy metal contamination distribution and assessment in the estuarian ecosystem of India's southwest and southeast coast.