Spilling fish water: City police adopt Kerala model

Mangaluru: With fish transporting vehicles continuing to spill foul smelling waste water on coastal roads despite the issue being taken up numerous times, the Mangaluru City police will now follow the Kerala model, and take strict action against violators.
Sandeep Patil, city police commissioner, said, “In the weekly phone-in programme, there were complaints regarding foul smell from vehicles carrying fish. In this regard, we studied the order of NGT on the same issue, pertaining to Kerala. We have decided to take action in a similar way. A meeting was held with transporters carrying fish. A police notice has been served to them on May 6, and they have been instructed to implement the same.”
Following are the guidelines according to NGT Tribunal Southern Zone: All fish carrying vehicles will be adequately insulated and made leak proof. The transportation of fish shall be in crates to prevent leakage of melted ice and spillover the melted ice spilling on the road, and the crates shall be diverted and collected in waste water collection tanks of adequate size.
The city police have adopted this method after hundreds of complaints from residents, motorists and others, regarding the menace of waste fish water spilling on roads from vehicles. Earlier, the Dakshina Kannada district administration headed by S Sasikanth Senthil had asked the fisheries department to study regulations laid down by the neighbouring states of Goa and Kerala for transporting fish in both closed and open vehicles.
Hundreds of trucks transporting fish use national highways, state highways and residential roads. While moving, they are supposed to store waste water in a tank fitted to the vehicle, but often keep the inlet open. The same dirty, foul smelling water spills on to the road, causing inconvenience to motorists, especially two-wheeler riders. More inconvenience is caused when fish for fish feed is transported in open vehicles.