Thermal plant effluents kill fish

Nellore: Release of untreated water into Buckingham canal by thermal power plants is resulting in thousands of dead fish washing ashore in recent times. This has a severe impact on aqua culture in the coastal areas in the district.

Thermal plants in Muthukur mandal are releasing untreated water into local Buckingham canal, other irrigation canal systems thinking that they would reach sea safely without any additional expenditure. But local people are paying a high price in terms of recurring incidents of death of fish.

On June 1, a large number of dead fish washed ashore of the canal at Pathapalem in Muthukur mandal where a thermal plant is located. This created flutter among local population on possible dangerous emissions from the plant. Though this is not new to them, but the death of thousands of fish in the canal led to panic.

It is reported that 78 per cent of thermal power plants in the country release sewage water without treatment into rivers, groundwater and, canals and Nellore is not an exception to the practice. Effluents of thermal plants in the district are not only damaging crops in the coastal region but also posing threat to aqua sector, which has been a high export earner for the state for a long time.

“These water discharges from thermal plants contain dissolved oxygen levels which create suffocation to the plants, animals and fish giving scope for rising anaerobic conditions. It also leads to increase in levels of toxins, loss of biodiversity, killing of fish affecting reproductive system and many others. They have to be treated properly before releasing into water systems,” said a senior official of the AP Pollution Control Board.

A sudden shock from the thermal plants can result in mass killing of fish and others, he added. A team of scientists from the Agriculture Research Station visited some agriculture lands in Muthukur mandal in 2017 and identified the adverse impact of fly ash released by thermal power plants on the paddy crop.

Paddy varieties such as MTU 1010, BPT 5204 and 555 were facing discoloration of grain and ash on plants which forced the farmers to approach the scientists for finding impact of thermal plants effluents. Now, farmers in the area demand the district administration to deploy a team of scientists to address the menace of the thermal plant effluents in the coastal mandals.

“We are facing problems with frequent death of fish in local canals. We rely on fishing and have been observing dead fish in local water bodies due to release of effluents from the local thermal plants. Farmers are worried their crops and aqua ponds would be affected by the harmful contents in the effluents,” said K Ramanaiah from Pathapalem village.