Date:12/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101252350300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Fish growth level in Kolleru low: study

Staff Reporter

Monitoring by APPCB stressed

The study conducted by a team of experts
Serious threat to survival of aquatic life in the lake

BHIMAVARAM: The present growth levels of fish in Kolleru is low in view of the higher levels of effluents, toxic in nature, being released into the lake from the sugar factors at Vuyyuru, Bhimadole and Hanuman Junction and the sullage water from various urban centres upstream, according to a study.

Effluents’ impact

The study was conducted a few days ago by a team of experts, comprising M. Panduranga Rao, former professor of National Institute of Technology, Warangal, P.A.R.K. Raju of Geospatial Information Centre (GIC), SRKR Engineering College here and A.V.S. Yerambhareswara Rao, a research associate at GIC.

The study asserts that a detailed examination revealed that the colour of surface water turned dark due to the industrial effluents. The effluents are imparting chemical and biological loads to Kolleru waters in large quantities, posing a serious threat to the survival of aquatic life in the lake, especially fish. The study attributes poor arrivals of fish in the market in and around the district to their poor growth in the lake after the Operation Kolleru programme. The team observes that even the fish seed released into Kolleru in large quantities by the Fisheries Department hardly helped in improving fish growth because of high chemical contamination in the surface waters.

To improve the quality of water in the lake, it is essential that the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board should monitor and check the release of chemical and biological effluents into the lake. Otherwise, the growth of fish production in the natural fresh water lake would not be realized, cautions the study.