Fish Die in Moat of Centuries-Old Fort

Newindpress
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Vellore, Tamil Nadu (India):
Mystery shrouds the death of hundreds of fish in the moat encircling the centuries-old fort here.
At least on two occasions in the recent weeks, a large number of fish was found dead, especially after the moat - which was almost on the verge of drying up due to near-drought conditions that existed prior to the monsoon this year - began receiving good inflow of rainwater.
It is said that the mixing of sewage with rainwater that drained into the moat from in and around the town could have lowered the oxygen level in the moat which in turn could have led to the death of fish.The Department of Fisheries has been growing a number of varieties of fish in the moat for many years.
According to sources, the annual production of fish in the moat used to be around 30 tonne annually during the ’80s and it came down to around 8 tonne recently thanks to fluctuating rainfall and the dip in the quality of water due to mixing up of the town’s drainage in the moat.The Vellore moat is one of the oldest in the country and considered one of the earliest rainwater harvesting systems.
Nov 29, 2005