Thousands of fish die as river suddenly turns black in Arunachal

Last Updated01/11/2021

Thousands of fish were found floating dead in Kameng river in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Kameng district after the water of the river suddenly turned black, triggering panic, officials said on Saturday.
According to preliminary findings, the cause of the deaths is large presence of TDS, which creates low visibility and breathing issues for aquatic species, in the water, he added.
The East Kameng district administration issued an advisory, asking people to avoid venturing near the Kameng river to catch fish, and not to consume and sell the dead fish till further order.

The Kameng river was earlier known as Bhareli river is known as Kameng river in Arunachal Pradesh and Jia Bhoroli in Assam.
The river originates in the eastern Himalayan mountains, of the Tawang district from the Glacial lake below snow capped Gori Chen mountain.
It is one of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra River, joining it at Tezpur, just east of the Kolia Bhomora Setu bridge.
The Kameng forms the boundary between East Kamemg District and West Kameng Districts and is also the boundary between the Sessa and Eaglenest sanctuaries to its west and the Pakke tiger reserve to the east.

TDS represents the total concentration of dissolved substances in water.
TDS is made up of inorganic salts, as well as a small amount of organic matter.
Common inorganic salts that can be found in water include calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium, which are all cations, and carbonates, nitrates, bicarbonates, chlorides and sulfates, which are all anions.
Cations are positively charged ions and anions are negatively charged ions.
High TDS levels may indicate the presence of harmful chemicals.
It may also indicate hard water that causes buildup of scale in valves and pipes, which may hinder performance.