Dead fish found floating in Mula river, residents blame industrial pollution

Pune: A large number of dead fish were found floating in the Mula river in Pimple Nilakh on Sunday, raising concerns about unabated industrial pollution among locals.
Residents stated that both the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) have failed to curb pollution in the river. Similar incidents have been reported in the past in Pawana and Indrayani rivers in Pimpri Chinchwad, but this is a first for Mula.
Yogesh Gaikwad, a resident of Pimple Nilakh who first spotted the dead fish on Sunday afternoon, said, "I had gone to attend a funeral of my friend's father near Mula river when we spotted the dead fish. To check if this was a problem only in that area, I travelled up to Wakad from Pimple Nilakh. I found that a large number of fish were floating in this whole stretch of the river."
Raviraj Kale, an office bearer of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who had visited the spot immediately after the incident, said the administration has failed to take action against the discharge of some industrial effluent into the river in areas around Hinjewadi. "Some fishermen were taking the same dead fish to sell in the nearby market, after which we called police and they stopped this activity," he said.
Kale and his supporters also took the dead fish to the office of PCMC's environment chief on Monday to protest the matter and demanded swift action against pollution in city rivers.
Sanjay Kulkarni, the city engineer and head of the PCMC's environment department, said this is the first time such an incident has happened in Mula river.
"Our teams visited the spot immediately after we received the information and samples of water have been collected for testing. It is suspected that some effluent was released upstream of the river as it comes from the jurisdiction of rural Pune and Pune Municipal Corporation, which led to this incident," Kulkarni said.
A senior MPCB official said the board is yet to get more details on the matter and a team would be sent to collect water samples.