Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ASSESSING THE FEASIBILITY OF CONVERTING WATERBODIES IN ABANDONED BRICK KILN INDUSTRY AREAS INTO CULTURE FISHERY SYSTEMS

Tapati Das, Poppy Rajbongshi and Prema Khan

Abstract

Population growth and increasing affluence and the resultant demand for more building materials such as bricks is negatively affecting our environment. Brick industries affect the productivity of agricultural lands through extraction of huge amount of top soil for making bricks. In Asian countries like India and Bangladesh, agricultural land is generally given on lease by poor farmers to the brick manufacturers for a particular duration of time, generally 5 to 10 years. After the lease period, the used land is returned to the farmer in a deformed and unproductive state with numerous holes and pits. During rainy season, these depressions accumulate runoff water. Such waterbodies may be converted into productive ecosystems, which can perform important ecological functions and contribute to livelihood and income generation for the poor farmers. With this contention the present study was undertaken to assess the feasibility of converting aquatic bodies in abandoned brick kiln industry into culture fishery system. For the study, we selected a total of six ponds. Of these, four ponds were in abandoned brick kiln industry areas and two fish ponds were near human settlement. Standard methods for analysis of physico-chemical and biological parameters of water in such ponds followed by standard statistical analyses of the collected data were adopted for the study. The study showed that water properties in aquatic bodies in abandoned brick kiln industry are characterized by certain typical conditions particularly due to their surrounding land use type. The study revealed that such waterbodies may be utilized as fish ponds with appropriate management interventions. The study indicates the necessity for long-term and detailed ecological studies of such abandoned systems. The study also recommends investigation on prospects of aquaculture particularly, culturing air breathing fishes.