NEW DELHI, Dec 6: Native fish in the rivers of Meghalaya, affected by open cast coal mining despite official ban for years, have found a safe haven in the downstream fish sanctuaries set up by neighbouring Bangladesh.
With successful water management systems in the fish sanctuaries, endangered fish species like Pabda, Mala, Dhela, Boal, Chital, Ghora, Khari and Nanad fish, are now available in the Shari-Goyain River.
Aimed at providing safe havens and breeding grounds for endangered native fish species of the region, the two fish sanctuaries, recently built in Ratargul Swamp Forest area, have started to show promise of bringing back lost fish species once found abundantly in local waters.
According to research done on the rivers in coal mining areas of Meghalaya, a total of 64 fish species under 20 families were collected. The calculated value of diversity indices reflected the declining trend of fish diversity in the coal mining affected areas of the river due to degradation of water quality.
Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU) undertook the project in 2018 and set up the fish sanctuaries on three acres at two locations in Ratargul Swamp Forest and its Gurokachi canal. The fruits of the five-year research programme have already begun to show, reports said.
There has been a sharp rise in the population of micro-nutrients rich Mala and Dhela because of the pen method of breeding. Prior to the project, fish were dying in the Shari-Goyain River, being heavily polluted with coal mineral composition when flowing from the hilly regions of Meghalaya into Sylhet.
Since the launch of the project, farmers were able to catch huge quantities of native fish from the surrounding beels and haors. The sheer number of fish found this year has made it difficult for local fishermen to sell them but no one has been complaining.