Coimbatore: Medical waste found on Ukkadam lake bund

COIMBATORE: Medical waste is being dumped on the Ukkadam Big Tank bank, posing risk to the public.
On Wednesday morning, the Ukkadam police found a bag containing seven to eight insulin vials, more than 50 used and unused syringes and some medical prescriptions on the lake bank, just opposite Ukkadam bus stand. Police soon got a person to clear the same.
Meanwhile, several hundred fishes were found dead in Valankulam lake. Residents in and around the lake, many of them fishermen, said the fishes might have died because of oxygen shortage that was caused by extensive water hyacinth growth and ban on fishing activities.
D Shaful Ahmed, a local fisherman, ruled out the possibility of poisoning. "On a normal day, we catch more than 300kg. For the past 20 days, because of lack of fishing activities, there seems to have an unexpected increase in fish population, which combined with the water hyacinth proliferation, might have left them without adequate oxygen.”