Thousands of fishes 'perish' as polluted wastewater in Gujarat 'allowed' to go to sea

By A Representative
Prakruti Suraksha Mandal (PSM), an Ankaleshwar-based environmental NGO, has claimed that thousands of fishes have perished because Narmada Clean Tech (NCT), jointly promoted by the Gujarat government and South Gujarat entrepreneurs of industrial estates of Ankaleshwar, Jhagadia and Panoli to manage and dispose of waste water, opened a valve of its pipelines, discharging polluted water in Amlakhadi, a tributary of the Narmada River close to the Bay of Khambhat.
PSM president Salim Patel said in a statement, on receiving information from local villagers that NCT officials and contractors responsible for purifying polluted water were actually allowing release of polluted water, NGO volunteers inspected the spot, which is in Boidara village of Ankleshwar taluka in Bharuch district.

Red spot: Boidara villago

Patel said, such an act can cause “serious harm to environment”, as farmers would be forced to use polluted water for agriculture. Worse, groundwater has got polluted. Thousands of fishes on the mouth of Amlawadi were killed due to the pollution of the water flowing to the sea.
“Our investigation found that this was not accidental”, Patel said, adding, “This was planned as per the orders of responsible officials. Whenever NCT lines are broken, wastewater is illegally disposed of in the bay. NCT lines have experienced repeated breakdowns over the last six months.”
The NGO has demanded that the government go in for action, and investigate as to why this happened, and prosecute those responsible for creating such a situation.

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