Kerala: Death of a large number of fish triggers protest against effluents in Periyar River

Kochi, May 22 (IANS) A day after the huge destruction of fish wealth in the Periyar River near here was spotted, hundreds of people and those engaged in aquaculture farming staged a protest at the Pollution Control Board office at Eloor on Wednesday.

The death of the fish is estimated to be in crores.

“For long we have been demanding action from the Pollution Control Board to prevent the discharge of effluents by factories located in the area. All our pleas have fallen on deaf ears and those engaged in fish farming have suffered losses running into lakhs. We demand our losses be compensated,” said the protesters.

The protests turned violent with the police guarding the Board office being roughed up by the protesters.

To vent their anger, the protesters came with quantities of dead fish and threw them into the compound of the Pollution Board office.

In this area, fish farmers are engaged in cage farming and they are the ones who have suffered huge losses after toxins entered the cages resulting in the death of the fish which included pearl spot, tilapia and Asian sea bass among others.

Industries Minister P. Rajeev on Wednesday said the state government has asked for a detailed report from the authorities.

Meanwhile, the blame game among the various departments of the state government has started with each blaming the other.

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