Wastewater Aquaculture by the Mudialy Fisherman's Cooperative Society in Kolkata, West Bengal: An Example of Sustainable Development

Abstract

At the heart of one of the most densely populated mega-cities of India lies an eco-friendly and sustainable developmental business model. The city in question is Kolkata and the profitable but environmentally friendly venture that will be highlighted in this paper is that of wastewater-fed aquaculture practiced by a cooperative run by the local fishermen, namely Mudialy Fisherman's Cooperative Society (MFCS). Initially the marshy wetlands of Mudialy used to be flooded with polluted waste water from the city and the local industrial complex. Ultimately, the polluted water was released to the sacred River Ganges. This cooperative society has radically transformed these wetlands into an urban fishery and a water-front recreational ecosystem. The present paper focuses on the incredible task completed by the MFCS and also reports the results of water-quality analyses to ascertain that conditions in the water bodies of MFCS are ideal for a profitable aquaculture practice. All the water quality parameters studied (physicochemical water parameters, concentration of different heavy metals, and zooplankton community structure) were well within the normal limits from the point of view of pisciculture. This proves the efficiency of the wastewater purification system adopted by the cooperative society. The major advantage of wastewater-fed aquaculture over conventional wastewater treatment is the large diversity of marketable products and therefore broad possibilities of income generation. Thanks to the poor fishermen of MFCS, the water drained from these wetlands into the River Ganges is no longer polluted.