Scores of dead fish wash ashore near Adyar estuary

CHENNAI: Fishermen near Adyar estuary were in for a shock in the wee hours of Thursday after witnessing scores of dead fish washed ashore dead along with water hyacinths and garbage.

“Such incidents occur during the first spell of every monsoon as the toxins from the land wash into the sea,” said Nityanand Jayaraman, an environmental activist.

S Palayam, a fisherman and activist, who witnessed the same near the broken bridge at around 4.30 am, said several big fish washed dead ashore. “They can’t be eaten also as they could be toxic,” he said.

He lamented that several fishermen, who went fishing at the estuary returned empty-handed as fish were seen floating dead. “The government should take samples of seawater at the estuary and check for toxicity. The instinct of the fish is that they escape when threatened. But, sewage would have stopped the oxygen supply making them die,” he added.

Other fishermen pointed out that the government agencies removed water hyacinths along the Adyar river but left them near the bunds. “The rains washed them into the sea.”

It may be noted that the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metro Water) pumped more than 970 million litres of sewage on Thursday but treated only around 750 million litres. The remaining 120 million litres, which was a mixture of rainwater and sewage entered the sea untreated.

Darwin Annadurai of Eco Society India raised concern that garbage is washed into streams and wetlands due to the runoff rainwater in several parts around the city.