Thousands of fish were found dead and floating in the Kameng river which is located in Arunachal Pradesh east kameng district. The water of the river suddenly turned black which has also triggered panic, an official said on Monday. According to some reports, it is now known by the district fisheries official that the water of the river suddenly turned black due to it having a higher content of total dissolved substances, that is, TDS. It is really shocking that such a great amount of TDS has been found in a river and which has caused the death of thousands of fish out there. The Kameng River flows around the Town of Seppa and it is around 200 km from Assam’s Tezpur.
The District Fisheries Development Officer (DFDO) Hali Tajo, also informed about the thousands of which were found on the river on Friday at the Seppa2. Hali Tajo also said, and according to the preliminary findings the cause of the fish is due to the large presence of TDS, which causes low visibility and breathing issues for these aquatic species in the water. He said, “As river water contains high TDS, the fish were unable to inhale oxygen”
After testing the water and amount of TDS in it, it was found that the TDS in the river was 6800 mg per liter, which is actually much higher than the normal range of 300 to 1200 mg per liter. It was seen by the district administration that locals gathered around in large numbers to the river so that they can get their hands on the fish that have been washed up on the shore. Hali Tajo, as a result, also requested the people not to eat the fish as it may also cause serious health issues. An advisory was issued by the east kameng district administration which issued people to avoid venturing near the Kameng river to catch fish and has also said to avoid consuming the dead fish or sell the dead fish till further order, as it may also prove really bad for human health to consume those fishes with the dead to the large amount of TDS.
Well according to some of the sources, it was also known that the people residing at Seppa blamed China. People are starting to blame China, the neighboring country, for the rise of the amount of TDS in the river. They also said that the color of the water turned so black due to the construction activities that are taking place in the neighboring country.
Tabuk Taku, MLA of East Seppa appealed to the state government to immediately constitute a committee of experts in order to ascertain the cause behind the drastic change in the color of the Kameng river water and to find out the cause of the death of large quantities of fish. Taku said that this incident never happened in the Kameng river while expressing concern. He said, “if it continues for more than a few days the aquatic life from the river will be totally eliminated.” He also shared that the sudden change in the color of water might be due to a huge landslide in the upper part of the district. He said, “there may be other reasons as well. The state government should immediately constitute a fact-finding committee to study the situation at the earliest.”
This is not the first time that something like this has happened, as, in 2017, the Siang River at Pasighat in East Siang district turned black too. The then Congress MP from Arunachal East Ninong Ering shared with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that it was the result of the construction of a 10000 km long tunnel in China because of which it diverted the water from Siang to Xinjiang province in the Taklamakan desert. But, China declined the allegation which was put against them.
