Inspired by the National Geographic Channel, few youths in Ranchi have adopted a unique method of fishing through electricity. They catch them after making them senseless through high voltage electric shock, an act which is extremely perilous for the environment and extremely dangerous for their own lives.
Environmentalists call the method adopted as extremely dangerous to the persons involved in it and the ecological balance as well.
“We had seen a programme at National Geographic Channel where fishing was being done very easily without using any net or fishing rod using electric shocks through a generator fitted on a boat. We thought why not give it a try,” said a youth in his 20s Sandeep Kumar preparing for railway services.
If youths in their 20s are seen fishing in bare minimum clothes on their body, one would wonder what exactly is being done by them. They even don’t know that they are putting their lives in danger for fun and a few bucks.
Since they did not have the facilities as shown in the TV programme , they discovered a cheap and easily available source of electricity from the overhead wire passing over Swarnrekha river at Ghaghra-Namkom bridge.
Process is simple — a wire is connected with the overhead wire running over the river with an iron rod tied with a long bamboo stick which is put into the water after connecting it with the pole. The process requires several youths to guide the person who dips the current ridden rod into the water and to locate the fish after it loses sense by the electric shock.
“As we cannot have all the facilities as utilised in the foreign countries, we adopted the desi technique which is as effective as adopted by the foreigners investing lakhs of rupees,” said Sandeep.
Though, they accept that it is far more dangerous than what was being shown on the TV without adopting any safety measures, according to them it was quite adventurous for them.
“As the process is efficient at least 10 times than the conventional methods adopted for fishing, the risk factor is negligible,” said another youth holding the electric stick, who was being called Sannata by others.
Though, it is done at a very small scale for their personal consumption, electric shock is a day to day affair for them, who regularly put their lives in danger while catching fishes. “It is not an issue we are used to it, we receive electric shocks very frequently while collecting fishes from the water after they are stunned by it,” added Sannata.
Since, it is done at a very small scale for personal use it has not yet come to the notice of the police or the electricity department.
Environmentalists however, see the whole process adopted for fishing as threat to the ecological balance of the area which poses a threat to the underwater flora.
“It is not a healthy method adopted for fishing as all the weeds, worms, insects, and underwater creatures may get killed due to the shock given to the water,” said city based environmentalist Nitish Priyadarshi. “It may prove to be dangerous for those catching fish with a single mistake in handling the live wires or the amount of current flowing in it gets uncontrolled,” said Priyadarshi.