MINGORA: The huge quantity of garbage, dumped along the Swat River and other streams, has affected the aquatic life as thousands of fish died in the river during the last few weeks, according to sources.

The local fishermen say that they have seen dead fish lying on the bank of Swat River. The dead fish having symptoms of some strange disease were scattered from Ghalegey to Batkhela area, they added.

“One week ago when I went to the Swat River for fishing and I found many dead fish floating along the river bank. I brought some fish to my home. There were rashes of yellow colour on their bodies when we cut the fish. Since then, we have stopped fishing in the Swat River,” said Arshad Ali, a local fisherman.

Ibrar Khan, the district fisheries officer, when contacted, said that he had already taken sample of the water where dead fish were found and sent it to laboratories for test.

Fishermen say thousands of fish died in the river during the past few weeks

“We have received a report from Centre of Microbiology and Biotechnology (CMB) VR & DIC. It states that garbage dumping along the Swat River is one of the causes of the disease,” he said.

According to the report, waste from the city areas is mingled into the river during rain that causes the disease.

“The municipal administration in Mingora has received legal notices from Environmental Protection Agency but it still violates the law and dumps garbage along the Swat River,” sources said.

Zakir Hussain, assistant director of Environmental Protection Agency, said that his office warned the municipal administration of Mingora against dumping garbage along the Swat River in Ogdo area but to no avail.

“During our monitoring campaign, I visited the dumping site in Ogdai area and found that it was polluting water which was dangerous for human health and environment. So, on October 8, 20015, I sent Environmental Protection Order (EPO) to the chief municipal officer ordering him to stop dumping garbage there but he did not obey the order. They still dump garbage along the Swat River,” he told Dawn.

According to Environmental Protection Agency, non-compliance with the EPO is an offense punishable by Environmental Protection Tribunal under Section 18 (1) of KPEPA, 2014.

There are more than 500 hotels in the district and majority of these are located along the Swat River right from Kalam to Mingora and onwards. The environment experts say that 90 per cent hotels have no septic tanks and their sewage directly flows into the Swat River.

“It is the duty of district administration and municipal administration to keep check on hotels and houses and take legal action against the owners, who violate laws by letting sewage directly flow into the river,” said environment activist Anwar Khan.

However, Tehsil Municipal Officer Hayat Shah said that the garbage dumping site was located at a distance from the river. Proper trenches were dug there for garbage dumping, he said.

“The chief minister has approved Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) in six divisions including Swat. The agency will be established soon. Wasa has already started working in Peshawar and I am sure the water and sanitation problems will be resolved once Wasa is established,” Mr Shah told Dawn.

Mingora city has a poor waste management system due to which two streams passing through Mingora Bazaar have turned into filthy drains. The water of the Swat River is getting polluted as sewage and drains flow into it while garbage is also dumped along the river at several places.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2016