Ahmedabad: After confirmation of corona virus in the water of Sabarmati river of Ahmedabad in Gujarat recently, there is an atmosphere of fear among the people due to the large number of dead fish found in them.
Although the cause of fish death is believed to be contaminated chemicals in the water of Sabarmati river and no official statement has come in this regard, but people are also apprehensive and worried about their death due to corona.
Hundreds of dead fish were seen on the Sabarmati river surface at Subhash Bridge and other places in the city. The concerned officials are conducting a detailed investigation in this regard.
Earlier, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar detected the presence of corona virus in water samples from Sabarmati river and two lakes in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat in a recent study.
UNICEF-funded study did not reveal whether the coronavirus genes found in the water samples were dead or alive.
Professor Manish Kumar, who led the research, has stressed the need for further investigation on this topic to prevent any adverse situation in future.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has decided to send samples from these reservoirs to the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC).
Harpalsinh Jala, City Engineer, AMC for Water Resources said, “GBRC is the authorized agency of AMC for water analysis. We have been sending samples to them for the past one year and they submit their reports to the state government. We don’t have any idea about IIT study. However, now we will send samples of these reservoirs to GBRC for similar analysis.”
The study was conducted between September and December 2020 and water samples were collected from the city’s Sabarmati river, Chandola and Kankaria lakes.
