Kameng River

In News 

  • The Kameng river is changing colour which has turned black and muddy.

About

  • It is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra river in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Kameng district.
  • Called Jia Bhorelli in Assam.
  • It is a lifeline for many and has its source in a glacial lake near the Nyegi Kangsang, one of the highest mountains in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Concerns
    • It continues to remain black, muddy and unsuitable for use.
    • The water was reporting a high level of turbidity (suspended particulates in a liquid) leading to the change in colour.
    • This depletion in oxygen levels had led to the death of thousands of fish.
  • Reasons: 
    • Some sort of a landslide/avalanche in the upper reaches of the river.
    • There was intense erosion along the Warriyang Bung — a tributary of the river upstream in the Khenewa Circle — which had led to the deposition of mud, debris, boulders and trees that the river carried downstream.

Source: IE