Continuing fish deaths in River Periyar - That's where Ernakulam Dist. drinks from -

Image Courtesy The Hindu( Link)

The story of the Fish Deaths in Aluva Puzha (River Periyar ) continues, even after 2 years and a supreme court intervention  . Yesterday and the day before  thousands of fish died, again.... . And what was reported in the media ? ..."Fish worth Lakhs dead".

Is out biodiversity only worth 'lakhs' and Does news attract attention only if tied to an Rupee figure ?

I am not writing this because I am a fish lover or use the water for my fish (I use well water only ).But I, like a millions others in this city- bath in it , cook in it and for crying out loud drink it! .

The national media has not given this news much coverage .It has just has a non conclusive mention....

Even Peta does not want to touch this . (Guess Fish don't have Fur )

My lament does not come from the fact that I am a fish lover and an 'aquarist' , but from the fact that nobody seems to know the reason.

 The "Pollution Control Board" is clueless .They are asking the "University" to give the reason.
I am just appalled by the lack of ownership......
Ask Universities and they are giving out weird theories. Turbidity , Low oxygen levels & Anaerobic Bactria  yaya ....yada... yada
(No Aliens  or divine punishment for the sinners of the City ,theories thankfully)

Well  we are all used to the usual apathy, but please; do not insult our intelligence  .....!

I will tell you the reason - every aquarium keeper knows this  (Only some in Kerala would have borne witness to this )

Its called a "pH Crash" (remember the litmus paper tests in school ) - Whenever the potential Hydrogen pH dives and it doesn't  need to be a nosedive , but a significant and sudden change, fish get stressed  almost always instantaneously die!

Low pH means Acidic conditions, so just imagine a flash burn all over your body  . Even if  the change is drastic but slow the fish gets a chance to adjust itself , remember" boiling the frog" experiment.
Just look up the key word "pH cash"  and "overnight fish deaths "

 Now let me tell you why it cannot be what the Universites say - None of the even if they can happen would confine it to the "industrial belt " ....every single  time over the last two years.

Why it cannot be "depleted oxygen" -  

•   Oxygen cannot just deplete (at least naturally) ,otherwise not only fish but all living things would die. 
• Even if oxygen is low, fish would still survive for a some time more at least .Simply by gulping oxygen with water from the surface - You might have seen fish do this in non aerated tanks. 
• If thousands of fishes were exhibiting this gulping behavior don't you think at least one person would have noticed. ( at least a tourist taking a midnight stroll or a call center employee returning from a late night shift )..

Why it cannot be "turbidity" .......(if the turbidity is natural )

• Turbidity does not need to hide - it doesn't know that it can be turbid only in the night and needs  clear by morning before somebody sees it ...
• Turbidity in nature is caused by strong currents .And strong rapid currents will just dissolve more oxygen making more oxygen  biologically available .. 

Why it cannot be "Anaerobic Bacteria"  .......(if the bacteria is natural )

• Anaerobic Bacteria do not need to hide (other than from oxygen ) -  I doesn't now that it can be up only in the night and needs to be clear by morning before somebody sees it ...
• Anaerobic bacteria even if it was trying to hide cannot, if it is working in the way the "Universities " are theorizing it does  i.e. if they are producing Hydrogen sulfide it would stink up the whole area ( Yes the smell the of rotten eggs)  . 

The only reason that seems possible and probable is that effluents are dumped into the waters in the dead of the the night ,causing a pH crash  . By morning the river dilutes this and the traces are undetectable by tests.

as the pH change would affect mostly nothing else by morning ...

 eg:

 If I put a drop of concentrated  Hydrochloric acid  into a test tube half filled with water ,a litmus test would read acidic . But the moment put the contents of this test tube into a big tank of water you would notice no change.it would a perfect '7'.

So effluents are released in the dead of the night.Probably from a enclosed compound , via underground and underwater  plastic pipes.

Which within a couple of hours gets diluted to less than  ' parts per million' by the river water and thus  nobody the wiser by the next morning .

Nobody except for the fish for NoW!. Imagine pumping commencing  in the night oblivious of the effluents . With No chance without dilution  directly reaches us and we drink it!!!! (even boiling would not remove a chemical , it can only kills bacteria and other microbes).. it would be a catastrophe !

Don't think it is  possible ? - Remember the BHOPAL gas tragedy . It took only a single operator to release a toxic gas to the atmosphere killing himself and scores of others (over 500,000 people exposed)  Ecological after effects still continue.

Don't this it is probable ? -- Lots of relaying of the water pipes are going on due to "Metro Construction  ".  Either due to breakages or rerouting. Pumping can begin as soon as the work finishes ,so that water reaches the areas that areas which are parched for days.....

All these people ,(who release the effluents) have to do, is spend a little more money and neutralize the effluents to dump somewhere else safely  .

Somebody's greed is causing this the river that flows with the tinkling of a thousand anklets anguish  and the transient embraces between the ripples and the shore should be the only secret of the night  .

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