- Mass fish deaths reported in Yamuna near Sonia Vihar.
- Environmental activists demand lab tests, allege chemical use.
- DJB denies chemical spraying, monitors ammonia levels.
The discovery of a large number of dead fish in the Yamuna near northeast Delhi's Sonia Vihar has raised concerns over pollution and river monitoring, with an environmental activist demanding laboratory tests to establish the cause of the deaths.
Bhim Singh Rawat, associate coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, said it was the second such incident in the river within a month and questioned the failure of government agencies to investigate the deaths.
"Back-to-back mass fish deaths in this relatively cleaner stretch of the Yamuna are alarming. Laboratory testing is the first essential step towards identifying the cause and deciding remedial action," Rawat said.
He alleged that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Irrigation and Flood Control Department had failed to fulfil their responsibility of monitoring the river and establishing the cause of the deaths.
Rawat said locals had alleged that chemicals were used to make the river appear cleaner ahead of the proposed river safari project, while experts had suspected the use of chloride-based chemicals to settle sediments and suspended particles. He also flagged allegations that the dead fish were removed and disposed of without laboratory tests.
The latest incident was reported on the morning of November 12 after videos surfaced of large number of dead fish spotted floating in the river upstream of the Wazirabad Barrage.
A senior DJB official said ammonia levels in the Wazirabad pond were within manageable limits and there was no significant impact on water treatment operations.
"The situation is being monitored, and there is no significant impact on water treatment operations at this stage. It is wrong to allege that any chemical is being sprayed in Yamuna by us, we are not spraying any chemical at Wazirabad or upstream," the official said.
The official added that, as per the design of its water treatment plants, the DJB could not treat raw water containing more than 1 part per million (ppm) of ammonia, in response to question about water supply being hit in parts of the city.
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The DPCC has not issued an immediate response on whether an investigation into the fish deaths has been initiated.
The incident comes less than a month after large numbers of dead fish were spotted along the Yamuna in north Delhi's Burari on October 14. Industrial effluents entering the river through Drain Nos. 8 and 2 were suspected to have caused the earlier deaths.
The latest incident comes days after Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated a cruise service on a 4-5 km stretch of the Yamuna between Sonia Vihar and Jagatpur to promote river-based tourism.
Meanwhile, the fish deaths have triggered a political confrontation, with Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accusing AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his associates of orchestrating the incident to defame the government.
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Sirsa alleged that AAP workers had brought dead fish from the market and dumped them in the river before recording videos to create an impression that the Yamuna remained polluted.
Water Minister Parvesh Verma had also accused the opposition party of staging the incident.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj rejected the allegations, questioning how thousands of dead fish could have been dumped into the river without anyone noticing. He accused the government of attempting to divert attention from pollution in the Yamuna.
Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff and has been published through a syndicated feed by PTI.