Sacrifice to the Marina Barrage

While paddling on the waters of the Kallang basin last Sunday, I saw a strange sight.

Lots of fishes were splashing near the surface of the water and many were flipping out of the water.

When I got near, I saw that the fishes were in fact struggling. They were not swimming upright. Most were on their sides, some were upside down. The fishes were dying. It was their final struggle.

The reason must be the desalination of the water in the basin. The Marina barrage has closed and the water in the basin is slowly loosing its salinity. What happened on Sunday was that there was a storm which added lots of fresh water. The current was strong as the rain from the drains and canal gushed into the basin (while the barrage was probably letting out the water).

While many people celebrated the completion and starting of the operation of the barrage, the marine life in the waters behind the barrage went unnoticed. This was perhaps the necessary sacrifice to the Marina barrage, in return for the benefits the barrage brought.

If I had not been paddling in the Kallang basin for the past few years, I would not have thought of the countless life that must be dying as the water desalinize. Now I felt a certain amount of closeness and concern for the basin.

I guess there is nothing much that I can do about it. I can only say a mantra for the dying fishes. May they eventually be free from suffering.