The dearth of fish in the wetland following the blowout, accompanied by the public fear of consuming fish from the beel has affected the fishers of six villages — Baghjan Gaon, Purani Motapung, Rangara Te Natungaon, Gotong Gaon, Na-Motapung Gaon and Dhalakhat Gaon — located in the east, west and north of the beel.
“Earlier when we used to go fishing, there was an abundance [of fish]. Now we earn less than a quarter of what we used to earn. There is no fish. We simply go for fishing as we have no other means,” says 37-year-old Jibakanta Moran.
He adds that the uriam (Bischofia javanica) trees they had seen in the wetland since childhood had turned reddish, shed their bark and died after the condensate shower. “Earlier, the birds would come to eat the seeds [from the tree]. We would sit in their shade during summers, but now we have to take umbrellas or japis to protect ourselves from the scorching sun. People don’t use the dead trees for firewood, fearing it would offend some water spirit (dangoriya),” he adds.
Local communities claim that though there has been some recovery in the waters where the Dibru river flows across the southern part of the wetland, there is negligible recovery in the stagnant waters of the wetland. Social activist and the gaon pradhan (village head) of Baghjan-Dighaltarang village, Manoj Hazarika recalls, “Initially after the blowout, snakes disappeared, then frogs, snails, tortoises, local fish and insects. Fish could not be consumed at that time; they smelt like kerosene.”
Eco tour guide, Papul Gogoi (25), laments the loss and scarcity of locally available fish like kanduli (Arius manillensis), puthi (Puntius sp.), goroi (Channa sp.), sengeli (Channa bleheri), singara (Sperata seenghala), singi (Heteropneustes fossilis), magur (Clarias batrachus), kholihona (Colisa fasciatus). “Some rare species of fish, local rou (Labeo rohita), borali (Wallago attu) have also shown decline in numbers,” says Papul shares.
The local residents also observe that the absence or decline of fish, moss, lichens, insects, and other aquatic plants that acted as food for local and migratory birds, led to an accelerated decline in the numbers of birds visiting the beel, which is listed as an Important Bird Area (IBA). This has also led to reduced tourists, they say.
However, artist and co-author of the book Birds of Maguri Motapung, and a long-time observer of the wetland, Deborshee Gogoi says, that habitat recovery (in the wetland) is more or less complete. “Grasslands have come back to life,” he argues. According to Deborshree, there was already a decline in seasonal birds visiting the region since 2016-2017, when a bridge was constructed adjoining Baghjan- Dighaltarang and Notun Rangagara, which led to an increase in human and commercial activities, and also cultivation in grasslands. “The blowout is a factor [for the decline], but birds had stopped coming even before that. Both the quantity and diversity of birds have lessened over the years,” he adds.
Even so, local communities and environmental activists believe that the waters contaminated by the condensate have still not been cleared of the pollutants. Activist Niranta Gohain while stating that migratory birds and ducks come to feed on the moss in the wetland, shares, “When the condensate fell on the wetland, the moss formed mounds and floated away. So, when the [migratory] Mandarin duck came, it stayed for just one or two days.” Gohain opines that since traces of condensate are present, moss will not form very soon.
The expert committee report mentions that the PAHs found were “carcinogenic”, having an effect on the physiology and immunity of animals. It also states that the loud sound would have “adversely impacted mammals, birds and insects, from disorientation to health issues.” The sparseness of biodiversity, absence of insects like the zeluk, earthworm, leeches, crabs, shrimps, and decline in the number of birds, is believed to be a behavioural change due to stress, an after-effect of the blowout.