PARADIP: A day after the fibre gypsum pipeline of Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (PPL) leaked on Monday, fishermen of adjacent areas alleged that dead fish had been sighted at various water bodies.Officials of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) along with local Fisheries Department officials visited the spot on Tuesday morning where the pipe had leaked. The SPCB officials collected water samples from the nearby water bodies for examination. The district administration, on the other hand, has deployed a team to conduct an inquiry into the leakage of acid water from the pipeline and ascertain loss of marine life.Sources said some quantity of acid water from the pipeline entered the water bodies although the leak was plugged after a few hours. As dead fish were seen floating in the water bodies on Tuesday morning, fishermen demanded compensation.District Fishery Officer Rabinarayan Patnaik said a detailed inquiry would be conducted about the loss and impact of leakage on the water bodies.The officer said a 20-metre crack occurred in the pipeline which was immediately plugged by PPL engineers. “However, some acid water has entered fresh water bodies and 20 to 25 kg fish have died so far,” he said.Sources said cracks had developed in the gypsum iron pipeline of PPL in 2010 and farmers along with fishermen incurred huge loses as the acid water entered agricultural fields and ponds. Following government intervention, the plant management changed the iron pipeline to fibre pipeline. “However, the installation of fibre pipeline was not done properly which resulted in the crack,” said Pitamber Tarai, leader of Kalinga Karndhar Solabhai Fishermen Association.
Comments
0 comment