Meghalaya government orders probe into dead fish found in river

Shillong:  The Meghalaya Government has ordered a probe into the incident of several thousand fish being found dead in a river near the Indo-Bangladesh border in the remote West Khasi Hills district last weekend, officials said on Tuesday.

Dead floating fish were first detected by local anglers on Friday last at river Kynshi, some 150 km from capital Shillong.

"We have deputed a team of experts to conduct an inquiry to ascertain the reasons behind the unnatural death of fish," Deputy Chief Minister B M Lanong said.

While the report is expected to be submitted within this week, the Deputy Chief Minister who is also in charge of Mining and Geology did not rule out the possibility of exploratory drilling for uranium in upstream areas of the river.

Government scientists also feared that the fish were poisoned either by miscreants throwing poison in the river or unscientific mining.

Meanwhile, a team of scientists from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board today collected waters samples of Kynshi and Rilang rivers to ascertain its quality.

Local influential NGOs like the Khasi Students Union blamed the exploratory mining conducted in the area to be behind the death of fish.

Major rivers of another district in the state, Jaintia Hills district, have also been declared "dead and unsafe for human consumption" as it is "acidic" due to unregulated and unscientific coal mining in the areas.