Residents of Villa Hayes, a community in southern Paraguay, discovered the river Confuso, which passes through their town, had turned into a fish graveyard last Monday, much to their dismay. Our Observer suspects that chemicals have been dumped into the river by enterprises upstream. Friday the 13th lived up to its bad luck reputation in Villa Hayes, Paraguay, when residents awakened to hundreds of d.e.a.d fish floating belly-up in the Confuso river. They quickly took to social media to demand that authorities investigate these strange occurrences.
Arce was one of the first to post photos and videos of the river, which showed dozens of dead fish floating in brownish water. In one of her clips, she states, “We’re finding all kinds of fish.” “Upstream of our town, there are tanneries that use a variety of chemicals.” Arce urges the government to take the problem seriously in order to prevent a repeat of the disaster. Local fishermen noticed the fish congregating along the river’s edge on Thursday, October 12, as if looking for oxygen.
The fish were all dead the next day when I returned to the river, floating belly-up on the surface. Some of the other residents and I immediately started taking pictures and posting them on social media to put pressure on the authorities to take action. It worked well. Municipal officials appeared at the river the next day, joined by staff from the SEAM. It’s not the first time we’ve found d.e.a.d fish in the water and worried that the water was contaminated. But this is the first time we’ve ever seen anything like it.
In the previous two days, we’ve seen thousands of d.e.a.d fish. Almost definitely, some of them are dumping waste chemical items into the river. I suppose tanneries are involved since they treat animal hide and turn it into leather using a variety of treatments [Editor’s note: To make leather, the animal skin is first rinsed with powerful additives, then cleaned, scoured, and dyed]. We feel the city is not adequately regulating these businesses. The local populace has obviously been affected by the pollution.
Some fisherman in this area have had to put their activities on hold. Families who rely on the Confuso River for irrigating their crops and animals are likewise in a precarious situation. I’ve joined forces with a tiny group of locals to denounce this horrific environmental crime. We want the government to identify and punish those who are to fault. We’d also like to see the city adopt a proper environmental policy. I also feel that industries located upstream should be temporarily shut down while we research the causes of these fish’s widespread deaths.
The current situation is no longer bearable. Due to the heat, the d.e.a.d fish are decomposing and have a foul stench. The river is in desperate need of attention. When contacted by FRANCE 24, the Paraguayan Environment Secretariat said that an investigation was ongoing and that certain tests had already been carried out. The fish died due to a lack of oxygen in the water, according to José Silvério, the director of water resources.
