Fishkill risks health of 400 students in Edulabad lake

Hyderabad: The areas around Edulabad lake, where 4 lakh fish died over three days, especially the road leading from Ghatkesar to the village, are stinking.
With the water being severely contaminated, dead fish such as rohu, katla, bangaru theega, gas cut, and mergu are being washed towards the shore every day.

The Edulabad Zilla Parishad School is located right next to the shore where hundreds of dead fish lie. Windows of the classrooms that face the lake have been shut for the past few days because of the unbearable stench. As of Sunday, no remedial measures had been initiated by the authorities.

Local resident P. Janardhan said the Medchal MLA and members of the district administration had not bothered to visit the village after the fishkill. “The school has nearly 400 students from Classes 5 to 10. Proper steps should immediately be taken by the district authorities so that kids do not suffer from health problems,” he said.

Edulabad has a population of over 10,000. Families from this village, as well those from Anantharam, Potharajugudem, and Maripelligudem send their children to the Edulabad Zilla Parishad School.

Villagers say that school authorities have discussed the matter and decided to write a letter to the authorities asking for the dead fish to be removed and for sanitary conditions in the areas surrounding the school to be improved.

Shocked fishermen are yet to recover

Hundreds of families in the villages of Edulabad and Dammaiguda which are dependent on fishing as their sole source of livelihood are worried about how they will sustain themselves over the next year.

The large-scale fish mortality comes as a major shock from which they are yet to recover.

Leachate from the Jawaharnagar dump yard has passed through Cheeryal Lake, Rampally Lake, and Ghatkesar Vaagu before finally reaching the Edulabad Lake, killing tonnes of fish due to the contamination of water.

P. Balaiah, president of the Edulabad Gangaputra Sangham, which has over 300 members, says that Rankem chemical was sprayed on the lake to minimise the damage, but it did not prove to be effective.

“The society spent nearly Rs 23 lakh on fingerlings and the chemical, but all of that money has gone down the drain. The fisheries department also released 2.4 lakh fingerlings a few weeks ago,” he says.

P. Krishna, general secretary of the organisation, says that fishermen have been rendered jobless for at least a year-and-a-half.

“Fingerlings cannot be released into this contaminated water. We will have to wait until next summer, when water levels recede, to release chemicals to purify the water. Only then can we release different types of fish,” he says.

Over the past few months, multiple incidents of fish mortality have been recorded in the lakes in and around the state capital region.