In an alarming incident, a large number of dead fish were found floating in Haralur Lake in the Bellandur area of Bengaluru on Wednesday. Three to four tonnes of fish have been reported dead in the past 3-4 days as per news agency ANI. The overflowing of toxic sewage into the lake is being regarded as the primary cause of the incident.
Halalur Lake volunteer Amardeep Adiga told the media that the drain which should carry rainwater is carrying toxic sewage water. As per the locals, the only barricade between lake inlets and toxic waste holds the water for some time but at the end of the day, it overflows. Due to this, 3-4 tonnes of fish have died in the past 3-4 days. “A large section of the stormwater drain network carries sewage and this water flows into the lakes. With the entry of sewage, froth is formed in the lakes and fish die owing to lack of oxygen,” he added.
8 fish-kill incidents in 7 months
As per ActionAid’s ‘Fishkill in Lakes of Bengaluru (2017-2022)’ report, cited by news agencies, a total of eight instances of fish-kill were reported in Bengaluru lakes within seven months of 2022, surpassing the annual fish kill numbers in the last five years. While six incidents were reported in 2017 and 2018, the numbers came down during the lockdown years between 2019 and 2021.
Several complaints have been raised in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) about the same overflow of toxic waste into the river, but no action has been taken by the authorities so far, the lake volunteer said. “They said that action will be taken but as of now nothing has been done,” Adiga added.
