Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Renuka Chowdhary has demanded a thorough inquiry into the death of hundreds of fish and prawns in the Palair Reservoir in Kusumanchi mandal to determine whether any foul play was behind the incident.
Forensic analysis should be conducted on the dead fish to find out if pollution, contamination or any deliberate act of poisoning of the water body was involved, she said.
Ms. Renuka Chowdhary on Friday visited the site at Palair Reservoir where a large number of prawns and fish were found floating in the water body under mysterious circumstances on Thursday.
Later, talking to mediapersons in Khammam, she said the undesirable incidents like this may mar the reputation of the Palair Reservoir known for its native freshwater fish species.
Asserting that the Palair Reservoir was developed into a major hub of freshwater fish and prawn culture during her stint as Union Minister in the past, she deplored that the reservoir, the lifeline of thousands of fishermen, had become an object of neglect under the present TRS dispensation.
Referring to the reported sighting of crocodiles in the reservoir a few months ago, she said the local fishermen were apprehensive of foul play behind the unusual phenomena.
Rumours are agog among a section of the local fishermen that deliberate attempts were being made to scare them and drive them away from the reservoir, which is identified as the major drinking water source for the Mission Bhagiratha scheme.
Responding to a specific query on the allegations made by late Congress ticket aspirant from Wyra Bukya Ramji’s wife Kalavathi against her, she brushed aside the charges as ‘baseless and unsubstantiated.’
The matter is sub-judice, she said, adding that the ‘ulterior motives’ behind such ‘groundless charges’ will be exposed soon.
“Some spineless leaders are behind the misinformation campaign against me,” she said, reiterating that she had unblemished track record in her political career spanning more than three decades.
Slamming the TRS government in the State and the BJP-led government at the Centre for allegedly leaving their major pre-poll promises to winds, she said people across the country were looking at the Congress party led by AICC president Rahul Gandhi to save them from the “misrule.”