Thousands of fish found dead in Sutlej near Harike

Thousands of fish were found dead along the Sutlej banks near Dine Ke village in Makhu area of the district.

According to information, the dead fish were found floating by the local villagers on both sides of river in the past two days. The village is located near the Harike wetland.

Jasbeer Singh, a local resident, said, “Heavy stench of decaying fish had filled the air, which made the life of villagers miserable.”

Manjeet Singh, founder of the Water Warriors of Punjab, said that he had come to know about the incident two days ago. “I especially came here from Ludhiana to see the situation,” he said, adding that all major tributaries of the Sutlej were highly polluted and allegedly carried heavy metals, which was apparently the primary cause behind the widespread death of fish.

Manjeet claimed that these toxics were affecting the aquatic life in and around the Harike wetland, which serves as a habitat for migratory birds and rare species like river dolphins.

“Repeated pollution events in the Sutlej and its connected rivers have long been a concern for activists and locals,” said Manjeet.

“We are collecting samples of the dead fish and trying to send to various institutions for testing to ascertain the exact reason behind the incident,” said Manjeet urging the state government to take strict measures against the release of chemicals into the river.

Officials confirmed the incident but refuted that these fishes died due to due to polluted water. One of the official said that the fish were “probably illegally captured, and the ones which died were thrown into the river by the fishermen”. He said there was no water contamination as being alleged, however, the department will still look into the same.