Molasses spill kills ‘vulnerable, threatened’ species in Beas

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 21

Molasses spill in the Beas has killed several species of fish, which figure as “nearly threatened” or “vulnerable” in the international list of endangered species.

The state’s wildlife wing has identified 10 species of fish which mainly became casualty due to contamination of the river water four days back. Evaluating fish mortality on the basis of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species, it was found that common snow trout fish falls in the category of “vulnerable” species. It indicates that the species is at a high risk of endangerment in the wild. World over total 1,245 fish species have been categorised as vulnerable.

Three species — dwarf river monster (Bagarius bagarius), malhi (Wallago attu) and Chitala chitala — which are also commonly found in the river, fall in the “nearly threatened” category. Internationally, the “nearly threatened” category means that a particular species faces threat of extinction in the near future. The IUCN has placed 548 fish species in this category.

Punjab’s Chief Wildlife Warden Kuldip Kumar said the contamination was likely to affect the entire ecosystem of the river. “It will take a long time to recover from this damage,” he said.

Six species, white carp (Cirrhinus mrigala), thaila (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), giant river cat fish (Sperata seenghala), bagrid catfish (Rita rita) and Indian river shad (Gudusia chapra), which were also killed in great numbers, fall in the category of “least concern”.

Different studies indicate that the Beas is home to 20 species of fish, a few of which fall in the “critically endangered” and “endangered” categories. There are 61 species of fish recorded in the Harike Wetland. It is home to one “critically endangered”, four “endangered” and 13 “vulnerable” fish species.

Endangered fish 

Vulnerable: Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii): Commonly found along the Himalayan foothills, it has witnessed a drastic decline in population due to introduction of exotics, damming and overfishing over the past decade. While in some areas the decline is more than 90 per cent, the overall reduction is inferred to be less than 50 per cent with similar rates predicted in future.

Near threatened

Dwarf river monster (Bagarius bagarius): It is found throughout the Indian subcontinent and harvested heavily in different parts of its range as food fish, for ornamental trade and as sport fish.

Chitala chitala: With population decline of 30 per cent across much of its range in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal due to pollution and over-harvesting, the species is assessed as ‘near threatened’.

Malhi (Wallago attu): The species has undergone a significant decline due to overexploitation as a food fish throughout its range.

Arrest mill directors, distillery owners: Sukhbir

Jalandhar: SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday demanded immediate arrest of the directors of Chadha Sugar Mill and owners of the distillery. Showing pictures of the Malwa region during a press conference here, Sukhbir said the polluted water, which had killed a large number of fish, had reached Malwa, but the government was least bothered. “Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is trying to save the culprits as they are related to his religious advisers — Sarna brothers,” he charged. TNS