Thousand of fish have been found floating dead in rivers in Gilan and Ardebil Provinces. Eyewitnesses report that they observed the sudden appearance of thousands of dead fish on the Nokandeh River in Rezvanshahr.
IRNA reports that on Monday August 4, the Gilan Environmental Protection Department confirmed the fish are dead and that it is now investigating the cause.
The Nokandeh is one of the rivers used by the Chouka wood and paper factory to dispose of waste water.
A similar account of dead fish, this time in the Gharahso River in Ardebil, was reported on Tuesday August 6.
The head of the Ardebil Environment Department told the Mehr News Agency that thousands of dead fish have been found in the half-dried-out Gharahso River in Meshkin Shahr.
The river is reportedly drying out due to repeated droughts and overexploitation for farming. At 285 kilometres in length and with 554 million cubic metres of water, the Gharaso is the longest and highest-volume river in Ardebil Province.
