Hundreds of dead fish were seen floating on Hebbal Lake on Sunday. By Monday, though most of the dead fish were cleared off and a few were seen floating on the lake. The overflow from an adjacent storm water drain and the consequent inflow of sewage into the lake, resulted in decreased oxygen levels, leading to the fish kill.
“Though the fish kill happened on Sunday morning, but it did not come to anyone’s attention until much later. On Monday morning, the dead fish had been mostly cleared… though there were still some floating on the lake surface,” said environmentalist Vijay Nishanth, who visited the spot and took videos of the incident. He added that the sewage inflow into the lake was to be plugged. He also said that the storm water drain had not been desilted.
The extent of Hebbal Lake is almost 150 acres. It is one of the few lakes that has regular visitors and is a popular spot for bird watching. The lake comes under the purview of the Lake Development Authority, though its maintenance has been handed over to a private enterprise on a lease.
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The number of fish kill incidents seems to be increasing in the city. The most recent case was at Ulsoor Lake on May 9.
“After the Ulsoor Lake fish kill, we visited nearly 25 lakes and found a pattern. Polluted water gushed into the lake from a nearby storm water drain, which in most cases had not been desilted. This happens even with a small spell of rain,” noted Lakshman, chairperson of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). He also said that sometimes, construction debris and garbage is also found dumped into the water bodies. He, however, said that overflow from the storm water drain getting into the lakes was one of the main reasons for the fish kill.
KSPCB will soon release the study on reasons behind fish kill, he added.
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