New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Delhi has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of staging the incident after footage of dead fish floating in the Yamuna near Sonia Vihar surfaced on social media. Water Minister Parvesh Verma alleged that the fish had been bought from a market and dumped into the river to damage the government's image. The incident has renewed concerns over pollution in the river.
"Today, I am seeing dirty politics by AAP. They are buying dead fish from the market and putting them in the river and posting videos in an attempt to defame us," Verma said.
The cause of the fish deaths has not been established. Videos circulating on social media showed a large number of dead fish floating on the surface of the Yamuna near Sonia Vihar.
Local residents alleged that polluted water discharged from a nearby leather tannery had caused the deaths. They also claimed that the problem recurs every year when water is released into the river from a location near the Hathnikund Barrage. One resident said the tannery released polluted water into the river and added that dead fish had been spotted on two consecutive days.
The latest incident comes less than a month after hundreds, possibly thousands, of dead fish were found along the Yamuna riverbank near Burari in north Delhi on October 14.
At the time, Radhey Shyam Sharma, head of the Department of Environmental Studies at Delhi University, said sudden mass deaths of fish could indicate a sharp rise in pollutants in the water or a toxic discharge. Bhim Singh Rawat of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) also flagged industrial pollution as a possible cause, pointing to untreated effluents entering the river through drains in Haryana and restricted environmental flows.
Experts have called for an investigation and scientific testing of water samples to establish the cause of the deaths. Bhim Singh Rawat has also stressed the need for laboratory testing to identify the source of pollution and determine appropriate remedial measures.
The incident comes a day after Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated a cruise service on the Yamuna between Sonia Vihar and Jagatpur on Tuesday, November 10. The service, called the Namo Yamuna River Safari, was launched to promote river tourism. Each ride lasts approximately 40 minutes, with the route covering the Sonia Vihar-Jagatpur stretch.
The two sides have offered conflicting explanations for the incident. While the Delhi government has alleged that dead fish were deliberately dumped into the river to discredit it, residents have blamed polluted water discharged from a nearby tannery. Neither allegation has been independently established, and the exact cause of the fish deaths remains unknown.
(with inputs from media organisations)