Yellow pollution kills fishers’ livelihood near Kosasthalaiyar River

CHENNAI: As the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) is yet to ascertain the source and reason for pollution that turns water in Kosasthalaiyar River and Ennore wetland yellow, the fishermen are losing livelihood since the pollution kills baby prawns in large numbers.

The fishermen often find the brackish water turning yellow due to unchecked pollution.

S Kumaresan, a fisherman from Kattupakkam near Kosasthalaiyar River and Ennore wetlands, said there was no such ‘yellow pollution’ before 2015.

Dead baby prawn floating on yellow water

“Pollution occurred after a lubricant manufacturing unit started its operation. However, we could not trace the exact source of the pollutant to ascertain whether the discharge is from the lubricant unit or any other factory,” he said.

He added that a few years ago, river water would turn yellow once in three months but the frequency increased to 15 days, and now occurs within a few days gap. “First the polluting matter would float in the river as a black semi-solid substance. When it nears the sea, waves dissolve the semi-solid substance and turn the water yellow. We took two-wheelers and boats to sea to find the source of the pollutant in vain. Someone is discharging the pollutants in a more sophisticated manner,” he alleged.

A few months ago, environmentalists and fishermen along with the TNPCB officials inspected the lubricant unit but they could not find any evidence to indict the unit.

Recently, the TNPCB officials collected samples from the river, when the water turned yellow, and assured the fishermen that the source of the pollutants will be identified once the nature of the polluting matter was ascertained. But, test reports are yet to be released.

Kumaresan lamented that due to the death of baby prawns, fishermen’s income has reduced drastically.

“Earlier, we would earn Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 a day working just two to three hours. Now, it is difficult to catch that many prawns. The pollutants were released on high tide days initially, now it’s discharged on all days,” he added.

Another issue highlighted by the fishermen was that wind from the south is pushing the pollution towards Kattupalli which would further affect prawns. Apart from Kosasthalaiyar River, the pollutant enters the Ennore wetlands from Buckingham Canal.

R Kannan, member-secretary of TNPCB, clarified that yellow pollution occurs for a few hours on a few days and then vanishes. “The reason for the phenomena might be a microbial reaction, but it should be verified by tests. Samples are sent for testing. Once the report is ready, we can confirm the source,” he said.