Dry flows the Tungabhadra...and dead fish and tortoises!

Ballari: With the  monsoon failing for the third successive year, the fish, crocodiles and other aquatic life of the  Tungabhadra river are having a hard time surviving.  Stroll downstream of the dam in Hosapete and you see shells of dead tortoises and remains of fish scattered in the fast drying river.

 The lifeline of  drought-prone Ballari, Koppal and Raichur,   the river has so little water now that its fish and crocodiles are dying. "Also under threat are the smooth-coated otters and  four varieties of tortoises," says Mr Samad Kottur, a wildlife activist and researcher.

 With the water level receding fast, crocodile burrows in marshy areas near Kenchanagudda, where the Vijayanagar kings built a barrage, have become exposed, he reveals. 

"You can see shells of dead tortoises too," he adds regretfully. With  fish becoming scarce  crocodiles and otters that feed on them starve to death, he explains. Besides lack of water,  pollutants and uncontrolled growth of  hyacinth in the river  is threatening the river's aquatic life.

 "The 35-km Tungabhadra Otter Conservation Reserve (TOCR), stretching from the Tungabhadra Dam to Kampli, once harboured a good number of smooth-coated otters, mugger crocodiles, four species of rare turtles and hundreds of species of fish, some of which are listed as vulnerable and endangered  under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). But today most pools in the TOCR area are covered by water hyacinth that kill the micro ecosystem,"  Mr Samad observes, suggesting that  water should be released from the Tungabhadra reservoir at Hosapete  to save the river's aquatic life .

"The Tungabhadra river has been running dry for a long time, keeping mammals and reptiles inside their burrows for longer than usual. If the water does not reach them within a couple of days, the entire population could be wiped out" warns Mr Santosh Martin, a naturalist.