Tens of thousands of dead fish surfaced on Vapis sea coast on Wednesday morning,an incident that locals say is not the first. Villagers of Kolak and Udwada in Vapi went to the sea coast in the morning to prepare for their daily sojourns into the sea when they were shocked by floating pools of dead fish,a sight they claimed to have come across at least thrice earlier. They immediately informed the sarpanchs of both villages as residents began gathering on the sea coast to look at the long line of dead fish being washed up ashore. Most immediately blamed chemical discharges from the industries nearby. Kolak village sarpanch Kishor Patel informed Gujarat Pollution Control Board officials,who took samples of sand,water and dead fish and sent it to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) office to ascertain the cause of death. Patel said he went to complain at the GPCBs regional office in Vapi since such incidents were becoming regular and,by coincidence,he met the boards chairman,K U Mistry,who was visiting the area to meet local industry owners. This is not the first time this has happened,but nothing has been done about it. The industries in the nearby areas are discharging chemical wastes into the Kolak river,which later get into the sea and results into the death of fish, he said. The villagers of Kolak and Udwada depend on fishing,and this is going to affect their livelihood. We have decided to take this issue strongly and,if needed,we will protest in the coming days, he added. GPCBs regional officer at Vapi,G M Patel,said the dead fish were found in an area of on the sea coasts of Kolak and Udwada. Fisheries department officials have also collected samples of the dead fish for investigation,the officer said. We have sent our teams to the areas in Kolak and Udwada to check the discharge of wastes from the factories. After we get report from FSL and the fisheries department about the cause of death,we will decide our future course of action, Patel said.
