COIMBATORE: Environmentalists were concerned after a large number of dead fish were found floating near the banks of Ukkadam Valankulam water body in Coimbatore.
The Ukkadam Valankulam water body is among the eight water bodies being developed in the city under the beautification works carried out by the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC). Apart from beautifying it at Rs 65.93 crore, the civic body in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) had also launched boating services in the water body.
The local fishermen community has been opposing the boat rides in both Valankulam and Periyakulam water bodies citing aquatic life loss, but the civic body went forward with their plans.Manoj Krishna Kumar, an environmental activist, told TNIE, “I usually spotted dead fishes on the rejuvenated Valankulam lake bund when I went for morning walk, but on Saturday, I found over 200 dead fishes floating on the lake and some on them had been washed away on the banks. The civic body must investigate the matter immediately and check the cause of the death of the fish. Action needs to be taken to prevent such aquatic life loss in the future.”
Several activists also urged the CCMC to take samples of water from the lake and send them to the laboratory for testing the pollution and other chemical levels in the water of the lake and take necessary action to address the issue as this has happened for a second time in the past few months.
Speaking to TNIE, a CCMC official said that a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) with a capacity to treat 1 MLD of sewage water has already been established and is fully operational at the Valankulam Lake. They added that the STP is running without any issues and there are no possibilities of any chemical or other toxic substances to be mixed in the water body.
“The other possibility for the dead fish is that some of the fishermen who catch fish using fishing nets and coracle throw away small fish on the shores or into the lakes as they don’t fetch a good amount in the market. We have already warned them twice and even told them they will not be allowed to fish in the lake if they are caught doing it again. We are planning to install CCTV cameras on the shores to catch them redhanded and take necessary action against them,” they added.