UMERKOT, March 28: A large number of fish were found dead in the Nara Canal and its tributaries near Farash regulator on Sunday.

People of the area believed the cause of their death was use of chemicals in the canal by greedy fishermen to maximise their catch.

A fisherman Ghulam Hussain Mallah told this correspondent that he found scores of dead fish floating in water when he was filling a pitcher from Thar Wah near Tio Mail regulator and warned his fellow villagers against using the canal water for drinking.

He said the fish might have died because of presence of some poisonous substance in water.

Allah Bachayo Mallah, a local leader of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), said that he saw many dead fish floating in the Nara Canal at Farash regulator.

The fish included Morakhi, Seenghari, Kuriro, Jarko, Mundha, Rarha, Soni and Fauji Rarha. Some weighed almost two kilogrammes.

He said that Nara Canal fed more than 19 distributaries and humans, animals and birds used its water for drinking.

If the fish had died of poison it could also do harm to the health of humans and animals, he cautioned.

He said that it would also affect livelihood of scores of fishermen in Umerkot district.

PFF Chairman Mohammad Ali Shah said that pouring poison into water to maximise fish catch was an offence under the Wildlife Protection Act, Environmental Act and Pakistan Fisheries Act.

Imam Bux Mehar, sub-divisional officer of the irrigation department, was not available for comments.

Executive Engineer of Nara Canal Mansoor Ahmed said that water supply to the canal had been suspended for de-silting, hence water was stagnant.

If someone had poured poison into water it could cause large death of fish on a large scale and harm health of livestock and humans, he said.

He said that water could be released into the canal to wash away the poison's affects but they could not do so at this moment because of de-silting. The district's fisheries department should look into the matter, he said.

A low ranking official of fisheries department, Assistant Warden Rajesh, visited the canal on Monday on the directives of in-charge district officer Gulfam Shaikh and told journalists that he had collected water samples.

He said the irrigation department had released fresh water into the canal which had washed a large number of dead fish down to the tail end of the canal.

Meanwhile, PFF activists led by its local leader Yaqoob Mallah held a demonstration at the Farash regulator on Monday.

Mr Yaqoob blamed death of fish on the apathy shown by the departments of fisheries and irrigation and district government.

Only a low ranking official visited the canal and no inquiry was launched to know who did this, he said and demanded an impartial inquiry into the matter.

Use of chemicals by fishermen to maximise catch has become a worldwide malady. The chemical stuns the fish and force them to rush upwards to the surface to fill their gills with oxygen as it enters their gills.