Agriculture and horticulture in India has significantly increased use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers within the past few years. These pollutants are poisoning the native fish of Kashmir at alarming rates often while the fish are still in their larvae or juvenile stages.
Professor A. R. Yousuf, specialist in limnology of fresh water lakes and rivers notes that the fish species threatened by such pollution include the algaad, churn, chosh, shont, sater gaad, and the endangered fish species rama gurun. Yousuf reports that in the early 20th century, without any scientific compatibility studies, the exotic fish species salmo trutta fario and oncorhynchus mykiss were brought to River Jhelum for angler attraction. The exotic species became predators to the native species.
The government has been notified of the problem several times by Kashmir’s Pollution Control Board (PCB). P.C.B. reported that the city of Srinagar itself dumped over 40 million liters of untreated liquid waste and 350 metric tons of solid waste into Kashmiri’s various bodies of water. Deforestation and sand extraction add to the list threatening the native fish species’ breeding ground.
Article Title: “India Pollution Threatens Kashmir’s Fish Species”
Publication: ISPNews February 13, 2011
Author: Athar Parvaiz
URL: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54460
Faculty Evaluator: Tom Jacobson, Sonoma State University
Student Name: Amanda Newhall, Sonoma State University