KOCHI: Even as residents and Ambalamugal-Puthencruz grama panchayat officials allege that BPCL is to blame for the fish deaths at Ettikkara and Kakkad, the public sector petroleum company denies the allegation.
According to the company spokesperson, it is true that the streams run through the company properties. “However, on hearing the allegations, we checked the part of the streams on our property. Samples from the stormwater retention ponds and rainwater harvest tanks were also tested,” said the spokesperson.
However, we didn’t find any chemicals in them, the spokesperson said.“Also, we didn’t see any fish deaths in the part of the streams on the company’s properties,” said the spokesperson. “We had notified the Pollution Control Board about the same. According to the company, they can’t identify the cause. “The company is located upstream. So, if the fish deaths aren’t happening here, then something else might be causing it downstream,”said the spokesperson.
M A Baiju, chief environmental engineer, District Pollution Control Board, said a team had visited the areas. “They collected samples of water from upstream and downstream. A clear picture will emerge only after the test results come in a week,” he said.
“However, as per the initial observations of the team, low water level and growth of weed in the water bodies might have been a cause,” said the chief engineer. Low water level will reduce flow and hence cause stagnation, he added. “When fishes enter the stream during high tide, they get trapped in the shallows during low tide. So, in the night when the dissolved oxygen content goes down, they suffocate,” said Baiju.