BY OUR STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, May 5: To what extent humanity can degrade to jeopardize lives of other species. The war that humanity has raged on fellow beings through various means, be it deforestation, pollution or encroachment of ‘tural territory’, has now put the lives of many species under threat, including human beings itself.
A few kilometers away from the maddening crowd of Guwahati, Deepor Beel is home to many endangered species of birds and water body species. But, continuous exposure to water body pollutants and other harmful materials/chemicals has now put the lives of many endangered species under threat. The GMC dumping ground. at Boragaon is playing an active role in polluting the living environment in the adjacent areas and mainly the world of the large scale amphibians of Deepor Beel. GMC has been using a remote area of Boragaon to dump waste including industrial, medical, household waste since 2004.
“The dumping ground is causing a problem for both human and different amphibians in Deepor Beel. The waste comprises of junks and waste of industries and medicals including syringes, heavy metals, plastics, aluminum cans etc. These waste in turn come in contact with the water of the Beel contamiting it and in turn infecting the wide variety of flora and Fau underwater. The flora including the planktons and algae’s are food for fishes which in turn are affecting the fishes in a big way. Fishes are again consumed by humans and birds. The different species of migratory birds which visit the Beel in large scale feed on fishes and are in danger of getting infected. As a whole the total food chain is getting affected,” said Suresh Deka, Professor of Microbiology, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology. “Segregation plays a major role in maintaining the ecology of thee surrounding environment of a dumping zone. The non bio-degradable waste could be burnt to use the heat to convert it into energy and the degradable items could be used to make fertilizers by using the process of vermicomposting but due to lack of such processes, the entire area has now turned into a mountain of garbage,” he added.
Raising serious concern, Arundhati Devi, Associate Professor of Bio-Chemistry, said, “From a recent survey of the Beel we got to know that that the carcinogenic level in the water is over permissible mark caused by industrial waste mainly batteries. The toxic level is gradually increasing destroying the vital flora and fau underwater. Deepor Beel would no longer be a Ramsar site as migratory birds would cease to come here.”
It may be noted that the dumping ground was supposed to be shifted to Chandrapur area way back in November 2015, but till now no initiative has been witnessed on ground. The local residents gave up eating fish from the local markets fearing adverse affect and keep windows shut during monsoon as foul smell continue to be a serious health threat.