Arunachal Pradesh's Kameng river turns black; people criticize China

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• Oct 31, 2021 | moderator

Arunachal Pradesh's Kameng river in the frontier district of East Kameng in western Arunachal Pradesh suddenly turned black from Thursday. Thousands of fish were seen floating dead in the Kameng river.

A district fisheries official stated that the river's water turned black due to the high total dissolved substances (TDS) content.

District Fisheries Development Officer (DFDO) Hali Tajo discovered thousands of dead fish dead in the river on Friday.

As per preliminary findings, the cause of the deaths is the large presence of TDS. The presence of TDS produces low distinctness and breathing issues for aquatic species in the water.

"As the river water contains high TDS, the fish were unable to inhale oxygen," Tajo stated.

The presence of TDS in the river was 6,800 mg per liter. It is much higher than the standard range of 300-1,200 mg per liter.

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Tajo urged the people not to consume the fish as it may cause severe health problems.

The East Kameng district administration ordered an advisory, urging people to avoid venturing near the Kameng river to catch fish. Further, it asked people not to consume and trade the dead fish until further order.

Inhabitants of Seppa criticized China for the increase in the TDS in the river. They alleged that the color of the water turned black due to construction projects by the adjacent nation.

Seppa East MLA Tapuk Taku stated, "If it continues for more than a few days, the aquatic life from the river will be totally eliminated."

He added that the sudden difference in the color of the water might be due to a huge landslide in the upper area of the region. He said that there might be other causes as well. The state government should soon form a fact-finding panel to study the situation at the earliest.