Beas, June 6: Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu released fish seeds into the Beas to mark World Environment Day on Tuesday. With the process of fish restocking caught in an official rigmarole and the report of the World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF) yet to take shape, the minister took the lead and did his bit.
Accompanied by Deputy Commissioner KS Sangha, MLA Baba Bakala Santokh Singh Bhalaipur, Sidhu reached the river banks and boarded a motorboat.
Fish seeds were thrown into the river, with Sidhu holding a placard spreading a save environment message.
Terming the recent molasses spillage a ‘massive’ disaster, Sidhu conveyed the message of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had cancelled his visit to the Beas on May 26.
“Capt Sahib’s message is that we have to undo the damage and restore the faith of the people. After learning that the river was free of contamination, fish were released into it. The people should not dump waste, especially plastic and puja articles, into rivers,” he said.
Deputy Director, Fisheries, Raj Kumar said 10,000 seeds of small Indian carp fish varieties like rohu (Labeo rohita), other carps like catla (Labeo catla) and mrigal carp (Cirrhinus cirrhosus) have been arranged from the government-run feed seed farm located at Rajasansi. “The local varieties of fish seed are available at government-run farm. As far as fish restocking is concerned, we are awaiting a nod from the headquarters. It may take us another three years to bring things back to normal,” he said.
Tonnes of fish that died due to molasses spill on May 17 were supposed to breed in the coming monsoon. Indus dolphins and gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), an Indian variety of crocodiles, added recently to the Beas, eat only fish. These creatures won’t have much to feed on. Besides, the river needs to be restocked at the earliest as the fish-eating migratory birds will converge on Harike in November.
Source Tribune India
