SHILLONG:
A day after visuals of a group of youth posting with dead fish species at Khri river in Western Ri Bhoi, the headmen of villages located near Khri river and the Khasi Students’ Union Western Area held an emergency meeting at Warmawsaw on May 12.
It was informed that the Warmawsaw village had earlier issued a circular, prohibiting the use of poison to kill the different fish species in the Khri river.
In the videos, a youth was seen carrying a giant Cat fish that weighed around 80 kgs (as per the video). It was as big and as heavy as the person carrying it.
The incident took place at Khri river under Patharkhmah police station under Western Ri Bhoi on May 11.
Other than the heavy-weight Cat fish, which is rarely found in Ri Bhoi rivers, similar species of fish but smaller in size were also caught by a few individuals.
Sources informed that a few individuals from different villages under Western Ri Bhoi allegedly poisoned the river by using a local poison called Kharu to kill the fish. It was not the traditional hook fishing but fishing using organic poison.
It was informed that a few days ago, police had gone to the river and seized three packets of the poison Kharu and yesterday, in the absence of police personnel, a group of youth went to the river and poisoned the river.
Following the incident, local villagers reported the incident to the police. A few individuals, whose pictures were circulated on social media, were summoned to Patharkhmah police station on May 12.