BHOPAL: The croaking of frogs heralding the arrival of the rainy season is barely heard in the city these days. Earthworm, another companion of the season, has also disappeared. So, the vanishing of the two pals of the season, frogs and earthworms, has made the monsoon lifeless.
The professors of bioscience and the ecologists told Free Press that, the reasons for disappearing of frogs and those for vanishing earthworms are pollution, over use of pesticides and rising number of concrete houses.
Both frogs and earthworms have come under vulnerable category, and it is necessary to take care of them to save the earth’s ecology.
Head of Bioscience Department of Barkatullah University in Bhopal, Vinoy Kumar Shrivastava said, “I think urbanisation and widespread use of pesticides is the main reason for this. We no more hear the croaking of frogs in the rainy season. Only from 20 per cent to 25 per cent frogs and earthworms are left.”
He said earlier, a large number of frogs and earthworms were used by the biology students for dissection, and it may be one of the reasons for their disappearance. It has been, however, banned. “We hope, their number may be increased due to heavy rainfall this year,” Shrivastava said.
Professor at Regional Institute of Education Mukesh Singh Mewada said, “Frogs and earthworms have now come under vulnerable category. The population of these two species is declining because of use of pesticides and because of pollution. Over use of insecticides has affected their reproductive system.”
He said the breeding ground of these species is affecting due to high temperature. “Nowadays aquatic bodies are polluted because of concrete houses. And level of dissolved oxygen is very low. The texture of soil is also polluted a lot.” He said leg deformities in frog can also be a factor.
“Nowadays, instead of oxen, rotavator is used for ploughing fields. As a result, the earthworms are being killed,” Mewada said.
Professor of ecology and developmental economics department, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Madhu Verma said, “I think these two species have been hit due to use of inorganic manures and pesticides. Rising number of concrete houses is also affecting its habitats. In fact, it also disturbs their life cycle.
“Earthworms purify soil and the frogs are also ecologically valuable. These species require proper water and organic soil to survive,” said Verma who is also coordinator of Centre for Ecological Services Management.
Similarly, Shubhas Pandey, an environmentalist, said, “Local earthworm is unable to survive, because the overuse of chemicals by industrial units and the effluents released by them, affect the reproductive system of frogs and earthworms.”
He said the lands in urban area have become contaminated because of chemical fertilisers. “This is the reason why these two species have almost disappeared,” Pandey said.
BY SMITA
