MANGALURU: For 56-year-old Titus D'Souza, a fisherman, it is something unusual that a river that once provided him his daily bread has turned poisonous.Dead fish are floating in Gurupur river and the entire water body and marine life is affected.Even several days after the water at Maravoor dam constructed near Bajpe turned black, with smell emanating from dead marine life, Dakshina Kannada district administration and authorities concerned have not woken up to identify the problem and rectify it.Locals who to spoke to TOI allege that untreated water and chemical effluents let out from industries situated closed to the river are the cause for the problem. "A week ago, the water on the other side of the river that connects Kuloor bridge was little reddish and it turned completely black three days ago and one can see a large number of dead fish floating there," explains Titus, who stays in Padushedde Kudupu, a stone away from Maravoor dam.One can see dead local fish varieties like cavage, payya, kane, snake fish, prawns and crabs floating on the river. "We cannot live here due to the foul smell coming out of the water," he adds. The villagers have complained to Moodushedde panchayat head but nothing has been done so far.People who stay close to the river in Jokatte and Kenjar on the other side of Maravoor dam have been worst affected. Along with foul smell from the river, they also fear that their water sources are also poisoned due to the contamination. From the past one week, we have been an oily substance floating on the water whenever we boil water. Also, the rice cooked in the morning cannot be used in the evening as it becomes stale, say Elvita and Clavy D'Souza, a nurse and homemaker, respectively.They add that during high tide, the poisoned water enters the nearby wells. There are about 300-400 villagers affected by this river water pollution. They allege that factories situated in Thokur and close to Kenjar have been discharging their waste and other effluents into the river.National Environment Care Federation (NECF), an NGO, alleged that due to the poisoning of the water even several plants on the islands have died and are posing a threat to Kandla forest or mangroves. H Shashidhar Shetty, general secretary, warned that the NGO along with the villagers will hold a protest if the district administration fails to address the issue on priority.

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