Poisonous algae found off Gujarat coast

By M. Malleswara Rao

HYDERABAD, JULY 11. The satellite images sent by Oceansat, or IRS-P4, have indicated the presence of blooms of algae, a kind of fungus that kills fish, on a 400-500 km. stretch of the Arabian Sea along the Gujarat coast.

Scientists are planning to reach the bloom, which is ``a few kilometres wide'', to study it and recommend measures for its removal.

The poisonous fungus may have already killed fish; if left unchecked, it may spread and threaten the fisheries wealth, on which a large number of families are dependent.

According to Dr. R.R. Navalgund, Director, National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), the IRS-P4 had also found ``a few deserts in the ocean'' near the Gulf of Oman. In these points ``there is very little or nil presence'' of phytoplankton, the food of fishes.

The NRSA receives data from all IRS satellites at its earth station in Shadnagar near here and develops pictures for user agencies at its Balanagar facility.

However, no such disturbances have been noticed along the West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra coasts. Nonetheless, the data sent by earlier satellites pinpointed some unknown archaeological sites in dense forests in some States, veins of mineral deposits in Madhya Pradesh and indicated an upswing in the groundwater table in some areas of Andhra Pradesh, where watershed programmes had been taken up.

Dr. Navalgund, who assumed charge as NRSA chief recently, said that the IRS-P4, which was three years old, was ``quite healthy'' and was doing its assigned job - ``seeing'' and assessing oceans by measuring mean sea temperature, wind speed and water vapour in atmosphere and indicating the same in the pictures through different colours - perfectly.

Forecasts indicating the locations of rich catch of fishes were being released regularly in all coastal States.

He disagreed with the view expressed by some user agencies that the images were priced high, stating that they were being made available at Rs. 3,000-4,000 a piece as a ``national mission''. Vital installations and sensitive spots, which had a bearing on the security and safety of the country, were being masked in the images provided to the user agencies as a safeguard against misuse.

Dr. Navalgund, who hails Dharwad in Karnataka and has worked at the Space Application Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation at Ahmedabad for more than two decades, said that preparations were under way for launch of the next satellite in the IRS series.

The IRS-P6, codenamed Resource Sat, would be launched in mid-2002 to monitor agricultural operations, map snow, issue crop production forecasts and for rapid assessment of flood situations.

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