Cuddalore, 15 December 2009: Fishermen in SIPCOT area have reported another incident of fish kill in the river on 12 December, 2009. According to the fishermen, this fish kill was similar to the one reported on 18 and 19th of last month and even was around the same location as the previous one. There was the same strong rotten fish odour, bottom dwelling fishes dead and skin irritation when contact with the water. Fishermen suspect illegal discharge from SPIC or GSR as the main cause of this kill.
Fishermen have also reported massive loss in earnings due to low catch from the river in the last one month. According to them the catch of prawns had suddenly spike up on November 18th just before the fish kills. The catch was so immense that each fisherman that day made about 600 to 700 rupees from the sales, but immediately after that the catch declined. For days after the kill, fishermen would spend 3 to 4 hours in the water and earn only about 20 to 30 rupees from their catch.
Fishermen have been complaining about the illegal effluent discharge by the SIPCOT units into Uppanar for a very long time but have failed to attract any attention from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board or the District Administration.
Read the earlier story here:
Uppanar Pollution: Fish Kill Reported