Months down the line, the fishermen now foresee a moderate to good harvest in the ensuing season, even though scientists studying last year’s mortality have sounded a word of caution. Scientists say that conditions may be conducive for rejuvenation of clams in River Sal, but the excessive discharge of sewage and other waste in the river may still spell doom for the clams.
The rejuvenation of clams has indeed rung in good news for the traditional fishermen, eking a livelihood on the shell fish. But, they have a question or two for the experts.
Fishermen, like Sudhakar Joshi, wonder whether the pollution of the river by the sewage discharge was indeed the cause behind last year’s mortality. “If sewage was the cause behind the mortality, we would not have found clams spawning on the riverbed now when sewage continues to find its way into the river. We suspect that discharge of some chemical is behind the mortality,” Joshi said.
Vijai Tari echoed similar sentiments and exuded confidence that the fishermen now expect a yield two to three times more than last year. Like Joshi, Tari has also questioned the claim that sewage was responsible for the mortality. “How come there is rejuvenation of clams when sewage discharge continues in the river? A chemical discharge must have also caused the mortality,” Tari said.
While the rejuvenation of the clams triggered hope and optimism amongst the traditional fishermen, they recalled how they sustained huge losses last year. “Going by rough estimates, we will be in a position to earn Rs 3,000 a day by the sale of clams. This has been our livelihood over the decades. After the large scale death of clams last year, the huge demand was met by clams brought from across the border,” a fisherman said.
When Herald contacted Scientist Dr Joe D’Souza, he said that the river conditions are indeed conducive for a rejuvenation of clams but, warned that the fishermen cannot brush under the carpet sewage disposal as the reason behind the mortality.
“Right now, the salinity in the river is normal. Since the organic matter is reduced, pollution is also reduced. There is considerable reduction in Hydrogen Sulphide now because of the effect of the monsoon. But, you cannot say that sewage discharge has no effect on marine life and clams. The fishermen may be right in predicting a bumper harvest, but there ought to be no let up in curbing rampant discharge of sewage and other waste from the hotels and residential units into the river,” Dr D’Souza asserted.
GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has approved a project for appraisal of DPR for pollution abatement of River Sal under the National River Conservation Directorate. “This project is being carried out by the Department of Civil Engineering of IIT, Roorkee. The GSPCB will draw attention of the IIT team to the rejuvenation of the clams in River Sal,” he said.
When Herald drew the attention of the GSPCB Chairman to the optimism displayed by the traditional fishermen, Noronha said that the NIO in its study had attributed the death of clams to the short term discharge of a chemical. “Our scientists are studying the cause behind the mortality. Today, our team had gone to the river mouth to collect sedimentation samples. Let us wait for the experts to complete their study and submit the findings,” Noronha added.
