Teesta poisoning kills 35 species of fish
JALPAIGURI: Panic spread across Jalpaiguri town after thousands of fish
were found floating on the surface of Teesta river early on Tuesday.
The incident comes a year after 52 fish species had died due to
poisoning of the Karala river.
The Teesta river was poisoned near Spur 1 and the poison reportedly spread over a kilometre and dead fishes were netted out even near Spur 2. Fishes like rohu, boal, boroli, mrigel ,bata, kalbaus, puti and tangra were seen heaped on the banks and locals suspect about 35 species died in the poisoning that was done in the wee hours on Tuesday while everybody was asleep.
The Teesta river was poisoned near Spur 1 and the poison reportedly spread over a kilometre and dead fishes were netted out even near Spur 2. Fishes like rohu, boal, boroli, mrigel ,bata, kalbaus, puti and tangra were seen heaped on the banks and locals suspect about 35 species died in the poisoning that was done in the wee hours on Tuesday while everybody was asleep.
Soon as the news spread, officials from the fisheries, PHE, PWD and
Jalpaiguri Municipality rushed to the spot. But by then the traders had
already dispatched majority of the catch to the various markets in the
area. Later, the administration raided Din Bazaar, Boyelkhana Bazaar,
Station Bazaar, Bou Bazaar and several other markets to seize the
poisoned fishes. While the retailers have been warned not to sell the
poisoned catch, the municipality made announcements and asked people to
be careful when buying fish.
"We have collected samples of the river water and will send it to Kolkata for tests. Primarily it seems a case of poisoning," said Subhasish Chakraborty, extension officer of fisheries. However, local resident Krishna Chhetri - who first spotted fishes floating on the surface - said that the quantity of poison poured in Teesta was much less as compared to the Karala river.
Jalpaiguri SDO Sagar Chakraborty said, "Unless the water is examined properly, we cannot tell precisely what led to death of the fishes. We have asked the municipality and the fisheries to make people of the town aware so that they do not consume fishes from Teesta. We are worried as two similar incidents have occurred in Jalpaiguri in the past one year." It may be recalled that an insecticide named endosulfan had poisoned the Karala river last year.
"We have collected samples of the river water and will send it to Kolkata for tests. Primarily it seems a case of poisoning," said Subhasish Chakraborty, extension officer of fisheries. However, local resident Krishna Chhetri - who first spotted fishes floating on the surface - said that the quantity of poison poured in Teesta was much less as compared to the Karala river.
Jalpaiguri SDO Sagar Chakraborty said, "Unless the water is examined properly, we cannot tell precisely what led to death of the fishes. We have asked the municipality and the fisheries to make people of the town aware so that they do not consume fishes from Teesta. We are worried as two similar incidents have occurred in Jalpaiguri in the past one year." It may be recalled that an insecticide named endosulfan had poisoned the Karala river last year.
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