Jaipur: Lalchand Katariya, Rajasthan’s minister for animal husbandry, said on Thursday that an affliction called avian botulism had killed off thousands of birds around the state’s Sambhar Lake.
His announcement was based on a new report from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly. Tests at its Centre for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis lab confirmed initial suspicions that avian botulism was responsible, IVRI director Raj Kumar told Indian Express.
Curiously, the National Institute of High-Security Diseases (NIHSD) in Bhopal had ruled out avian botulism in preliminary tests conducted shortly after the tragedy hit the national news.
Bird-watchers and other visitors to the lake discovered thousands of birds dead or dying around Sambhar Lake, which is India’s largest inland saltwater body, in the second week of November.
Avian botulism is the result of deadly toxins secreted by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Upon ingestion, they cause paralysis, which then interferes with critical functions and causes death.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told mediapersons that the report’s conclusion vindicated the state government’s efforts to prevent more avian deaths, and that he’d also penned a letter to Prakash Javadekar, the Union environment minister, requesting further support.
“We would like to ascertain all the reasons behind the death of the birds and ensure that such a situation will not arise in future,” he told reporters in Jaipur.
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He didn’t elaborate on what these steps could be. But if avian botulism is indeed responsible for the birds’ deaths, the steps should involve eliminating the toxic substances from around Sambhar Lake.
C. botulinum produces the toxins in anoxic, i.e. low-oxygen, conditions, which effectively implies the state government will have to clean up Sambhar Lake. According to Hindustan Times, about a sixth of the lake is covered by invasive organisms, its biological oxygen demand is an order of magnitude above permissible limits, and it’s sometimes unusually saline (even for a saltwater lake) – all signs of pollution.
Moreover, Gehlot’s comments follow two favourable reports that aligned with the state’s efforts – the other being from the Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Science – and tacitly reject the results of the NIHSD report.
The state is currently awaiting additional reports from the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, the Bombay Natural History Society and Sambhar Salt Ltd.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal has also sought a report on the deaths from the National Wetland Authority, the state wetland authority, the state pollution control board and Jaipur district magistrate, all to be submitted before January 22.
According to Katariya, who in turn cited figures collected by the government, state authorities have thus far disposed of the bodies of 17,454 birds (8,559 in Jaipur and 8,895 in Nagaur) and rescued 583 birds.