Chemical effluents released from factories that came up on the outskirts of Adilabad town into the tanks of the surrounding villages caused the death of 40 quintals of fish in the last two days. Villagers and fishermen of Chanda (T) village of Adilabad staged a protest on Wednesday along with dead fish brought in gunny bags alleging negligence on the part of officials concerned in taking action against managements of private factories that released harmful effluents. The fishermen submitted a memorandum to district revenue officer (DRO) Yakoob Naik as both the collector and the RDO were not available. The DRO instructed tahsildar Ghou-suddin and inspector of factories Satyanarayana to conduct an enquiry into the matter and take appropriate action against the management of factories responsible. The tahsildar and inspector of factories inspected the G.S. Oil Mill near Rampur village in Adilabad mandal and arrived at the conclusion that chemical effluents from the mill were flowing into the Chandavagu through the Rampurvagu, Ranadeevenagar and Bheemwsarivagu, polluting water and causing the death of fish. Tahsildar Ghousuddin told reporters that they had seized the factory for violating the norms and polluting drinking water bodies. Officials appealed to the residents of the surrounding colonies not to use drinking water from the water bodies and tanks. Mr Anand Kumar, the district vice