Pune, India - 64 Fish Species Recorded In Upper Mula River, 6 In Lower, Thanks To Detergents

[hatrack]

EDIT

Much of the pollution is a result of polluting effluents being let into the water bodies. The study, 'The effect of certain detergents on fresh water fish varieties', says that only a few air breathing species of fish survive in the Mula. In 2007, as many as 64 varieties of fish were recorded in the upstream section of the Mula-Mutha, while the number dwindled to five or six in the downstream section, according to the study.

The use of huge quantities of various brands of detergent powder is causing foam in the water bodies, reducing the air water interaction and leading to deficiency of oxygen in the aquatic animals under the water's surface. The survey was launched in 2004 and fresh observations were recorded in 2006, 2007 and in 2009.

N E Chandanshive, head of the zoology department who did the study, told TOI that these affected fish varieties are sold in the market and it was like slow poisoning for humans who consume it. "It will not show an immediate effect," he said.

The study found that the detergents that are used in large quantities in our daily life, are causing destruction of the riverine ecosystem by eutrophication (increase in concentration of chemical nutrients in the eco system) and affects the physiology of aquatic fauna. Explained Chandanshive, "The detergent causes damage to the buccal lining and gill epithelium that may result in poor utilisation of food and interfere in oxygen uptake. It has affected the level of glycogen, protein and fat in fish. The detergent has also affected the behaviour of fish, oxygen consumption, biochemical content in tissue (muscle, brain, gonads and kidney)".

EDIT

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Detergents-killing-fish-in-rivers/articleshow/5379605.cms

[kestrel91316]

1. I just met a boy from Pune on the phone yesterday. He's a foreign exchange

student in the US for a year, staying with my sister and BIL.

Sigh.

[mopinko]

2. i was there last year.

everything of the continent that i saw was heartbreaking. pune is a center of outsourcing. much money is made there. some of the better companies, really. not the call centers. high tech companies that take good care of their people.
but everything i saw was dirty, overcrowded, and so incredibly poor. the thought of them being able to rectify this or any of their other ecological horrors seems as far fetched as life on mars.