Periyar fish deaths: report finds deadly toxins in river

Ernakulam: A report by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) found that the massive death of fish in one tributary of the Periyar rivers was due to the presence of dangerous toxins like ammonia at extremely harmful levels. The toxins include ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and other unidentified toxins, Asian News International reported.

However, this completely contradicts the earlier report by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board that stated that the massive fish deaths were due to a lack of oxygen in the water resource.

According to the Kufos report, detailed chemical tests must be conducted to find how and from where the toxins entered the water resource- in Ernakulam's Pathalam, where the fish died- in such large quantities,

In another serious contradiction to the pollution control board's report, Kufos found that the oxygen levels in the water were not very low. Kufos informed us that a preliminary investigation report has been submitted, but a detailed investigation into the issue is needed. Official sources said that the unidentified toxins found in the water source must be traced.

These sources told ANI that there is something wrong with the pollution control board's report since it failed to detect the presence of toxins in the water. The board did not have a credible data set to conduct the tests to identify the presence of chemicals, and therefore, the board is at lapse, ANI learned. The board failed to monitor pollution discharge into the river, the source told ANI.