Mass death of fish in River Udyavara causes concern

Mass death of fish in River Udyavara causes concern

Mangalore Today News Network

Udyavara, Jan 13, 2012 : Three fish meal industries stand accused of polluting the River Udyavara, which flows through Ankudru and Gajani, to such an extent that fish have been dying in large numbers in the river. Reportedly, a number of dead fish have been seen floating on the river within a radius of 2 kilometers.

The local peopled have demanded a quick solution to this problem, following which Prasanna, the tahsildar of Udupi, inspected the area and also visited points at which the fish meal industries release effluents into the river. The area has three fish meal industries.

The local people have complained that all the three industries discharge effluents directly into the river without desalinating it. Moreover, the three industries are functioning without a license from the Gram Panchayath, they said.

Gracy Machado, the president of the Gram Panchayat, said that the foul smell of the effluents discharged by these factories has polluted the environment and that people are finding it difficult to live in the locality. The thick smoke released by these factories has affected the health of the people, owing to which the number of cases of breathing disorders, skin ailments, cough, and stomach ache is on the rise, she added.

Mr. Machado also said that Pachakshari Heeremutt, the PDO of the panchayat, had issued licenses to these factories without the approval of the panchayat, adding that the people had even protested against the PDO.

 

 

Speaking on the occasion, the tahsildar said that he has conducted a spot inspection and will submit the report to the DC. He also said that an effluent treatment plant will be installed in the industries. The factory owners have confirmed that they are decontaminating the effluents before discharging it into the sea and that they are not releasing anything into the river, he added.

Lack of Oxygen

The tahsildar was accompanied by the officials of the Fisheries Department and the Environment Pollution Control Board. Rajashekar Puranik, the assistant officer of the Environment Pollution Control Board, said that the fish died because of scarcity of oxygen in Pithrodi, Ankudru, and Mattu.

Explaining his statement, he said that the above-mentioned areas have only 2.5 to 3.5 DO of oxygen while they ought to have 3.5 DO of oxygen. Further, he said that the factories have been instructed to construct a channel for the discharge of effluents into the sea water and that the board will conduct inspections to ensure that desalinated effluents are released into the sea water.

Vijay Kumar, the member of the GP, said that the area has been suffering from problems created by the fish meal industries for the past two years. Although the factories claim that they do not discharge any poisonous pollutants into the river, the fish continue to die in large numbers. Although the villagers have submitted several memorandums to the district administration, no action has been taken against the factories, he said. He also warned that the public will organize intense protests against the government and the district administration at the earliest possible.

Study Required

K. M. Balaraj, the owner of the Hindusthan Fish Meal Industry, said that his company was established in 2006 and is taking care not to pollute the environment. He said that the problem began only in 2009 and is not connected to the effluents discharged by the industries in any way. He confirmed that the companies are releasing desalinated effluents into the sea according to the directives of the district administration.

He further said that there is a need to conduct scientific studies on the increasing deaths of fish in the river, adding that it could be because the waters of the River Kemmannu in Karkala recently.