Maun mela in Dehradun criticised for killing of fishes and polluting river

Eight to ten thousand villagers of Jaunpur, almost 85 km from Dehradun, participated in the Maun mela, an annual event, where villagers stun and kill thousands of fish in the Aglaad river, a tributary of the Yamuna
History of the ritual

• The ritual, dating from the time of the Tehri royals
• They sprinkled a powder locally known as `Timru' in huge quantity into the river. As a result of the powder's effect, the fish in the river could be seen moving around disoriented. 
• Villagers then catch them with nets and even with hands and then fish would be cooked by the village women -who incidentally did not participate in the catching since the ritual is an all-male affair.
• Forest department in action
• Forest official did try to convince the people not to do so but they did not heed much to the suggestion of forest department. 
• “The powder to kill the fish renders the water harmful for the consumption of humans and wildlife. We are convincing villagers to mark Maun mela for fish conservation instead"
• Lot of NGO's and environmentalists are also angry over the issue with the local people. 

Image Source: Times of India