Fishy Tales

Thousands of dead fish were washed ashore in Surat and Navsari districts of south Gujarat last week.

September 2005: Lakhs of fish die after immersion of Ganapati idols in Kankaria Lake

April 2006: Hundreds of birds turn up dead along Sabarmati river

June 2006: Hundreds of fish die in Daman due to the industrial pollution from Vapi

November 2006: 300 turtles found dead in the Nabhoi-Narmada canal

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19 September, 2007: Lakhs of dead fish are washed ashore in Dumas chowpatty in Surat

20 September, 2007: Over a tonne of dead fish found in Ubhrat and Dati in Navsari district

Kinds found dead

• Catfish

• Sea hemiramphus

• Flagfish

• Clupeids

• Mullets

• Solefish

• Prawns

What has been done so far

• Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the Fisheries department have collected samples of water and fish and sent them for testing

• GPCB has released water analyses reports

• Fisheries Department is yet to reveal the report

Possible reason: GPCB and the Fisheries Department claim that the deaths could have occurred due to “cloudy weather during which the oxygen levels in water get depleted”

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Contradicting Claim: Head of the Aquatic Biology Department at VN South Gujarat University, Dr Mohini Gadia, says: “Cloudy weather can reduce oxygen levels in water only in small, stagnant pools. And if fish die only during cloudy weather, they should be dying every monsoon”

Testing Waters

The GPCB collected water samples from the estuary of river Tapi and the Arabian Sea

• Sanjeev Tyagi, Member Secretary of GPCB, says: Six sea water samples were collected in the region; Results indicate that the water is normal

• Sea water collected from the site was colourless and odourless

• No trace of oil or any other contaminating matter

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• Only possible cause is illegal dumping of industrial waste or sewage in the waters

• No industries have been identified in the region yet

The water analysis found

• The pH of the water varying between 7.74 and 8.07

• The total dissolved solids (TDS) of the water were between 10,000 and 35,000 ppm

• The dissolved oxygen levels were in the range 4.2 to 4.8 ml/L

Delayed report

Fisheries Department is still to receive reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory in Surat

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• NK Vashi, the Deputy Director of the Fisheries Department (south Gujarat region) says: Fish samples from Dumas arrived only on Friday. It might take another three days for reports to arrive

• DK Patel, Assistant Director of the Fisheries Department in Navsari says: By the time the Fisheries Department was informed about the dead fish, most of them had already been swept away by the tides