Instead of storing wastewater in retro-fitted tanks, transporters dispense it on the road
The threat of fish wastewater has again come at the end of the southwest monsoon rains with the start of the fishing season for city residents as well as users of roads and highways.
Trucks and mini goods vehicles that mainly carry fish from Mangaluru Old Port (Bandar) spread waste water along the trunk roads of the city from Bunder and further on the national highways. There is a visible lack of impunity and enforcement, where fish transport trucks equipped with twin wastewater tanks almost stopped handling wastewater during the past few years.
Nemu Kottari, a social worker from Jeppu in the city, who was a regular at the weekly phone-in programs of the city’s police commissioners held till December 2019, and a few other residents were able to persuade the Mangaluru police to substantially curb the menace of wastewater . . He met the then commissioner T.R. Recalling Suresh’s warning of confiscation of vehicles transporting fish if they are found spreading waste water and added that the traffic police have been able to control the menace to a great extent.
There are three main fish transporters from Bandar- Kulur Ferry Road towards Udupi, Mangaladevi Road towards Kerala and Markara Trunk Road towards Jeppu and BC Road and beyond. All the main roads within the city and National Highways 66, 75 and 169 are littered with waste water all around.
Manjunath Nayak, a resident of Kudroli, said that along with fouling the surrounding area, the dirty water from the road is extremely dangerous for two-wheeler riders as well as other road users. He said that due to the slippery nature of the dirty water, many two-wheelers slip on the road.
Mr Kottari said that local bodies including municipal corporations and municipalities are bound to provide waste water dumping areas to fish transporters as per the relevant Acts governing their functioning. None of them have provided it, forcing the transporters to create a nuisance on the way, he regretted.
Mr. Kottari said that apart from the problem of dirty water, the rotten fish being transported to fish-meal factories is also causing foul smell in the entire city.
City Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar said that he will look into the matter.
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