'Fishy' deaths in Brahmaputra

Guwahati, Dec 18 (UNI) Dead fishes floating on the Brahmaputra near the main port in the capital town since this morning created a furore among the denizens even as the administration and pollution control bodies got busy probing these 'fishy' deaths.

The dead fishes were first noticed around 0900 hours when people spotted a handful of fishes floating lifelessly on the surface.

Intrigued, the people tried to find what was the matter as more dead fishes were seen been swept by the water current.

Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) C K Bhuyan said the administration was investigating into the cause of the death of the fishes and from where they had been swept in.

''We have called in the forensic experts, pollution control and fishery department people. They are analysing the samples and without any result, it is difficult to point towards the cause of the deaths,'' he said.

Though only a handful of dead fishes were noticed initially, the numbers went high during the noon hours as more dead fishes were swept by the current.

The phenomenon declined later in the afternoon, though few dead fishes were still seen being swept by.

Though the reason of the deaths was not known, it is suspected to be due to poisoning of the waters by some toxic chemicals, dumped illegally.

It is also not clear whether the fishes had died near the spot where they were seen or swept to the spot from a further location.

UNI