By Our Reporter
Shillong: Sources in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) where the dead fish from the Rilang and Kynshi rivers of Ranikor are being examined, have ruled out the possibility of the fish dying from any disease since there are no external lesions to indicate as such.
ICAR which is conducting the chemical analysis of the dead fish for the State Fisheries Department has ruled out possibilities of fish dying of a disease. Preliminary findings indicate that the fish died due to high levels of toxicity in the river leading to oxygen depletion of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). According to sources in the fisheries department this is one scientific speculation.
BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. This is not a precise quantitative test, although it is widely used as an indication of the organic quality of water
Sources say that flowing natural water aerates itself so there is no question of oxygen depletion. In this case they suspect that the river might have been poisoned by commercial interests which want to net in huge quantities of fish at a time.
The kind of toxic substance used is yet to be determined. It is learnt that the fish samples collected immediately after the mass death of fish in the two rivers had deteriorated beyond a point. Hence a second sample was collected and sent to the ICAR, official sources from the fishery department told this scribe on Wednesday.
Official sources from the fisheries department said ICAR is still investigating the matter. “We have handed over the samples to ICAR. They will use the detritus in the fish for micro-biological analysis. The micro-organisms may take 3-4 days to grow. Until such time no definite report can be given by ICAR
Sources have however stated that neither ICAR nor other institutions in Meghalaya have a laboratory to carry out pesticide analysis tests to rule out poisoning by use of pesticides.
Sources in the fisheries department said, “This Department has been working without any regulatory framework hence there is no legal backing to punish people who indulge in indiscriminate killing of indigenous fauna especially fish. The recently launched Aquaculture Mission document states that the Department will come up with an act to prevent indiscriminate fishing by using poisonous chemicals etc.
Two months ago, there was a mass death of fish in the Lukha River in Jaintia Hills. Sources informed that while the water was tested the dead fish were not subjected to chemical analysis to check out the cause of death.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) and the Mining and Geology Department are yet to submit their preliminary reports.
MSPCB Chairman M Allya said the Board is yet to submit its preliminary report stating that the team comprising members from the technical and scientific branch are still investigating the matter.
He informed that the team had been given a one-month deadline within which to complete the procedure and stated that the team could arrive on Wednesday night or Thursday morning with the samples to be tested in the laboratories.
When contacted, senior scientist of the MSPCB, Dr B Nongbri said the team would take time as they are collecting samples from various places where mass death of fish was reported. “We cannot be sure about the timeline as we are still investigating the matter”, she added.Responding to a query, Dr Nongbri said the samples collected from the river would be tested in the MSPCB labs while some would be sent to the Pollution Control Board at Delhi.
Scientists who did not wish to be named have ruled out the possibility of fish dying due to uranium tailings leaching into the rivers. “If that is the case, the river would have been too dead to support any life,” they said.
Meanwhile, Mining and Geology Minister BM Lanong has stated categorically that the Mining & Geology department has got all the equipments to test the water to check the presence of uranium ore.
He also said that the preliminary reports of the findings will be submitted on Thursday by two geologists delegated by the department to investigate into the matter on Tuesday.