Troves of dead fish float in Bengaluru's Kothanur Lake

For the second time in five months, hundreds of dead fish were seen floating in the Kothanur Lake in southern Bengaluru over the weekend.

In April, a similar incident was reported and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), which took note of the situation, had instructed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to immediately take preventive action.

Residents around the area and activists pointed out that entry of sewage into the lake was the major cause for the fish deaths. “Initially, sewage started entering the wetland, which resulted in fish kill at the wetland area. Now, sewage is entering the larger waterbody as well, causing harm to more fish,” said Raghavendra B Pachapur from ActionAid Association.

He added that the issue was flagged to the respective authorities back in March. “We have flagged the incident to the authorities multiple times, but no action has been taken so far, except for cosmetic cleaning procedures taken up by the BBMP,” Pachapur added.

Senior KSPCB officials told DH that they have instructed the authorities concerned to prevent the flow of sewage into the lake. “We can only monitor the water quality of lakes and direct the local bodies concerned to take action. We have written to the BBMP and BWSSB to take action. We will follow up with them,” a senior KSPCB official said.

BWSSB officials, however, refuted the allegations of sewage entering the lake.

“When the incident took place in April, sewage was entering the lakes. However, we have constantly monitored this problem ever since and arrested the entry of sewage into the lake,” a senior BWSSB engineer said.