ONE of the most contentious aspects of Melbourne's channel-deepening project begins today, when contaminated sediment around the mouth of the Yarra River is disturbed. The vessel Goomai will begin dredging the top layer of Yarra riverbed above crucial underground infrastructure, including a Melbourne Water sewer that runs to the Werribee Treatment Plant. The dredging will move sediments that are contaminated with lead, mercury, zinc, DDT and other chemicals dumped over many decades of industry in Melbourne's west.

Pollution of the Hooghly by industries and municipalities will be monitored by a cell within the state pollution control board and an independent committee. A Telegraph picture The state environment department has decided to constitute a cell within the state pollution control board and an independent committee to monitor pollution of the Hooghly, after the Centre shot down the proposal to form a separate authority for the purpose.

Mercury contamination in rivers can spread to nearby birds, even ones that don't eat fish or other food from the water. Researchers from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., found high levels of mercury in the blood of land-feeding songbirds living near the South River, a tributary of the Shenandoah, they report in Friday's edition of the journal Science. The South River was contaminated with industrial mercury sulfate from 1930 to 1950 and it remains under a fish consumption advisory.

RAJINDER SINGH, India's river man, is distressed at the state of the rivers and demands a quick solution

scientists seem to have come to a conclusion on what could have killed more than 100 gharials in Chambal waters recently. Tilapia, an invasive fish could have caused the deaths along the Uttar

The untreated industrial wastewater and irrigation returns have become the real threat to the aquatic life of the Chenab River, while the declining water flow of the river is aggravating the situation, a report of Punjab Irrigation Department has revealed.

Times have changed since stretches of the River Thames were declared "biologically dead" in the 1950s. A colony of seahorses was revealed to have made the London waterway its home this week, joining more than 100 species of fish, dolphins, seals, porpoises and the occasional whale spotted in the murky waters in recent years.

Seahorses Found In Cleaner Thames UK: April 8, 2008 LONDON - Marine biologists believe seahorses could be breeding in the Thames as the river becomes cleaner. About five short-snouted seahorses, (Hippocampus hippocampus) have been spotted during routine conservation surveys, leading scientists to think they have probably established a resident population. The news has been kept secret until now because the seahorse has not been protected. But from Monday, the marine creature and its environment will have protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.

Industrial waste threatens aquatic life in Indus RAMZAN CHANDIO KARACHI - The untreated industrial wastewater and irrigation returns has become the real threat to the aquatic life of the Indus River, while the declining water flow of the river is aggravating the situation. It was disclosed in an official report by Sindh Irrigation Department.