Landslides caused by an earthquake of 3.4 magnitude close to the border with China led to mass fish death in the Kameng river in Arunachal Pradesh.
The gap between the earthquake and thousands of fish found floating in the river was more than a fortnight.
Officials in the State’s East Kameng district said the earthquake on October 13 happened in the vicinity of the source of the river at an elevation of about 6,300 metres above Mean Sea Level. Kameng is not a transboundary river.
The landslides dumped several tonnes of mud and rocks into the river, substantially reducing the flow of water. The river turned blackish due to very high turbidity resulting in low dissolved oxygen that killed the fish.
“The situation has almost remained the same after the mass fish death was reported on October 29. People have been asked not to go to the river for fishing or other purposes due to the high turbidity,” the district’s Deputy Commissioner, Pravimal Abhishek Polumatla, said.
Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju, had on November 2 directed officials of Jal Shakti Ministry and Central Water Commission to closely monitor the situation in the Kameng river basin in coordination with the State Government.
East Kameng falls within the Arunachal West parliamentary constituency that Mr. Rijiju represents.
The district authorities had a few days ago restricted the sale and consumption of fish from the river Kameng for two weeks to avoid possible food poisoning. The authorities also deployed police personnel to patrol the river bank and urged community-based organisations to involve volunteers to sensitise people.
