Rajkot: Five blackbucks were found dead in Narmad village, some 15km from Bhavnagar, on Monday with forest department suspecting that they died after drinking contaminated water. Velavadar range forest officer (RFO) Ankur Patel said that the carcasses of three female and two male blackbucks were found behind Archit Organization opposite Nirma’s plant. “We suspect that the animals died due to drinking contaminated water mixed with chemicals. The carcasses have been sent to animal care centre for postmortem,” he said.Blackbuck is protected under schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. Some villagers sounded off the forest department about the death of these blackbucks. The water accumulated in the open ground was sucked into a tank with help of a pump as some birds, mostly lapwings, also died after drinking the water. Some farmers allege that contaminated water is a serious issue and it is affecting their crops too.Ishwar Yadav, who has his agriculture land in Narmad village, said, “I have registered a complaint with the forest and police department regarding contaminated water being discharged on my land, As a result, I lost my crop. The agencies take action but the problem continues.

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