In western India, one water reservoir in particular has been the scene of a real massacre for several years now. Thousands of fish are dying, literally poisoned after dumping a lot of household waste. However, this problem is not necessarily localized because many lakes and ponds are affected by this phenomenon.
A common phenomenon across India
In 2021, several NGOs including WWF and Global Wildlife Conservation published instructive reports. Its authors make the following observation: a third of freshwater fish are in danger of extinction. There it is several reasons for this global decline such as dam construction, overfishing, diversion of waterways for irrigation, climate change or pollution.
As the magazine explained Indian Quartz In an article from 20 July 2022, the historic Banganga water reservoir in western India is at the heart of the “ annual tragedy“. In fact, many fish die every year in this reservoir due to poisoning. Reason ? Religious rituals, including offerings of food massively end up in the water.
However, the situation of the Banganga water reservoir is not unique. all over India, many other lakes and ponds regularly see many fish lose their lives. However, water pollution is very often at the center of the problem.
Credit: vale_t / iStock
Very polluting religious rituals
Remember that today, 70% of India’s surface water contaminated, most of which are completely unfit for consumption. The example of the city of Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, speaks volumes. Some of the lakes were actually so affected that they became not friendly to all aquatic life.
In India, where development is accelerating year by year, manufacturers dump their wastewater en masse into rivers. The open dump case also played a role in this problem, which in the end led to very low oxygen levels in surface waters. However, other religious events and rites also contribute to this undesirable phenomenon. Some surface waters such as Lake Pushkar (Rajasthan) are sacred to Hindus because of their mythological significance.
Since pollution is everywhere affecting aquatic life, Indian city dwellers are indirectly concerned. If the latter does not always interact daily with surface water, pollution still has a very serious impact supply of fishery resourcesamong others.
