A Stinky Issue Gone Fishy to Deal With? Spilling Fish Waste Water on Roads still NOT Under Control
Mangaluru: Yesterday, Friday 28 December was the third time that complaints about vehicles spilling fish waste water on the roads, which cause smell and very slippery for vehicles, especially two-wheelers which skid and riders getting hurt, during the phone-in programme handled by Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh. And in response, the Police Commissioner said that police will not allow fish transporting vehicles to operate on city roads if they are not fitted with wastewater collection tanks and seize them if they are found spilling wastewater while in motion.
He was responding to complaints of wastewater menace from fish carrying vehicles and pungent smell from those transporting decayed fish to fishmeal factories, during the weekly phone-in programme here. A caller said that the menace is more pronounced on the Goods Shed Road which is very narrow where even students have to suffer the ordeal. Well said by the Police Commissioner, but he had promised to take care of this issue during the last week’s phone-in programme and also during the week before that. But all in vain, since fish trucks are still happily hauling fish, and the drivers don’t even care about the fish waste water being spilled on the road.
While containerized fish trucks, of late, do not spill waste water on roads, light commercial vehicles, including fish vendors who do business from their two-wheelers spill wastewater. Even though police commissioner Suresh said that though the police have regularly been taking up the drive, the menace stops during the drive and recurs soon after. Henceforth, regular monitoring would be in place, he said. But this morning, Team Mangalorean between 6.30 am -7.30 am checked fish vehicles passing near the adjacent road near Rosario Cathedral from Fish dock-Bunder, almost every vehicle spilled fish waste water on the road, from big trucks to small trucks, tempos and even fish hauling two-wheelers.
The entire stretch of this road is seen with patches of spilled fish water waste, which is a safety hazard, especially to two-wheelers. Also, the regular spill of this waste has created a fish stink around that area, having a couple of educational institutions nearby and a Cathedral. In spite of the city traffic police cracking the whip against tempos and trucks transporting fish for letting wastewater on roads, many of the drivers of these vehicles still break the laws. These vehicles use ice to avoid fish from getting stale and let this water on roads making the entire area filled with a foul smell and also causing accidents as this water contains oil- and this is very dangerous especially for two-wheeler riders, where they skid and get injured.
Residents and motorists have been facing hardship from vehicles carrying fish as they were discharging wastewater along the road leading to Ullal and Kerala. The wastewater, which contained oil, had rendered the roads slippery and resulted in motorists skidding and falling off their vehicles. Motorists also face problems from droplets of wastewater that were often falling on their trousers. With many complaints coming through phone-in programme, the traffic police have still not brought this situation under control, as of today, while Team Mangalorean was there early morning to do a surprise check, and found out that not many adhere to the laws. People say that there is a hand in hand dealing between the police and fish dealers when it comes to this issue, and therefore it is not strictly looked into with any action taken- indeed a fishy deal!
It is a common sight to see that roads in Ullal, Mangaluru and those leading to Udupi are being polluted due to the discharge of wastewater from trucks that transport fish and fish meal. Even though the police have instructed fish transporters, fish merchants and fish meal factory owners not to discharge wastewater from trucks on the roads in the past, but it’s been ignored. Even though police warned the fish hauling truck drivers that legal action will be taken against them if they continue to discharge wastewater on roads or near residential areas, but their old habits still continue. Even though the city police have issued show cause notice to fish meal factory owners if their trucks are found violating the instructions, but all in vain. Even though the police have cracked down against violators by imposing spot fine of up to Rs 500, but still no one cares. Transporting fish is not a crime and moreover, it is a favourite food of many. However, fish transporters should see that transportation of fish should not create trouble for the people. They should know that police action is not against fish transporters, but it is aimed only against those who violate the rules.
(File Photo)
But unfortunately, in spite of registering several complaints, the authorities had failed to initiate any action against vehicles discharging wastewater on roads. The drivers close the knob and prevent wastewater from being discharged while entering Kerala. But laxity on the part of local officials here had allowed drivers to ignore discharge of wastewater along the road here. However, when some of the transporters’ associations had already brought out informative pamphlets urging owners of tempos and mini goods vehicles not to discharge wastewater on to roads, but that has not made any difference. The transporters had demanded a suitable place to discharge wastewater collected in tanks attached to vehicles, an issue which has to be addressed by the district administration, but that’s not followed even by many truckers.
But even if the traffic cops have been cracking down on these fish truck drivers for violating the rules, where they confiscate their driver’s license, and the violators have to appear the court, and pay the fine imposed by the judge, which could be around Rs 1500-2000, only after paying that fine the drivers will get their DL back, but the violations are still on the rise. And yet another problem which this issue won’t be under control is that, by the time the cops get to their duty in the morning, all these fish trucks have gone by then. The only way to crack down on these fish trucks disposing of fish waste water on roads is that traffic police should start their crack down on such trucks early in the morning, and not as per regular duty hours?? Let’s hope for the best.