Tamil Nadu government sets up joint committee to inquire into mass fish deaths at Ennore Estuary

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has set up a four-member joint inquiry committee, comprising officials from the Fisheries Department and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, to inquire into the mass death of fish at the Ennore Estuary.

During the Zero Hour in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday (August 21), Opposition members, including AIADMK floor leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, PMK member A Ganeshkumar, DMK member Thangam Thennarasu and Congress member Tharahai Cuthbert, raised the issue.

They said fishermen had been severely affected by the mass death of fish and urged the government to take precautionary measures and provide necessary relief packages to the affected fishermen.

Replying to them, Minister V K Rajeev said preliminary reports based on field visits to five locations, including the Ennore Estuary, indicated that chemical substances from factories were not responsible for the incident.

"Around 2,150 kg of fish had died. The government assessed that human waste was the reason behind the fish deaths. When human waste mixes with river or canal water, the dissolved oxygen level decreases. The Pollution Control Board team found that dissolved oxygen levels had fallen below 2 mg, against the normal level of 4 mg, at two locations where the mass fish deaths occurred," the Minister said.

He said the government had constituted a joint committee comprising officials from the Pollution Control Board and Fisheries Department to conduct a detailed inquiry. The committee would submit its report within 10 days, he added.