Kathmandu . The attention of Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) has been drawn to the death of aquatic animals including fish in Aandhi Khola River of Galyang, Syangja district, NEFEJ said in a press statement
“We demand an independent probe into the continuous deaths of fish, tortoise, among other aquatic animals in the river, after the water suddenly turned murky and dark for few days beginning from the night of May 4. It is necessary to find the truth behind the incident that has been blamed on the chicken manure dumped by Khilung Kalika Agro Farm based in Bhirkot Municipality-6,” the statement reads.
NEFEJ strongly demanded the government bring under justice whoever is responsible for the action that killed thousands of aquatic animals, and affected the environmental and ecological system.
The Andhi Khola River incident is just an example. In addition, the illegal extraction of pebbles, gravels and sand are going on rampantly. The exploitation of Bhotekoshi, Sunkoshir, Trishuli, Indrawati, and Karnali, among other rivers, has been growing lately that have serious impact on the aquatic lives. But the government has failed to pay its attention towards the activities, according to NEFEJ
There are over 6,000 rivers, and 5,358 lakes in Nepal. These rivers and lakes are home to a host of aquatic and amphibian such as fish, frogs, ducks, and egrets. Sadly, the trend of using poison and electric ambush are still prevalent to catch fish in the rivers.
It has been revealed that due to the use of poison four out of 11 species of frog are going extinct, while dolphin is facing threat of extinction.
The local administration has said it will investigate into Andhi Khola incidenet and take action against guilty according to Aquatic Animal Protection Act 2017 (Amendment 2074). The Act has a provision of recovering the damage through compensation and imposing a fine of up to Rs 5000, and a technical officer should be involved for assessing the damage. NEFEJ assumes that the law to control such criminal and anti-environment activities is weak. Therefore, when we look at the Andhi Khola incident, it is high time that the stakeholder bodies thought and gauged if the existing legal provision is practical and timely. NEFEJ further added that it believes law should be made pragmatic for the conservation of rivers and the lives dependent on them and strongly appeals to the concerned bodies to conduct an immediate investigation into Andhi Khola incident and take action against the guilty.
