Residents of HSR Layout in Bengaluru are fed up of seeing dead fish floating in the Lower Ambalipura lake for nearly a week now.
“The lake is relatively well-maintained, and has never seen a fishkill in at least two decades. But the last week has been bad. We have had to scoop up loads of dead fish from the surface of the lake. A large group of birds have gathered. They are picking the dead fish, eating half, and dropping the rest,” said Kavitha Kishore, a resident of the area.
The residents suspect that sewage is entering the lake through a storm water drain.
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) officials collected water samples from the lake on July 25, and the report is awaited.
Raghavendra B. Pachhapur, Senior Project Lead, Action Aid, who has been tracking fishkill in lakes in Bengaluru, said this was the 13th fishkill reported this year. Fishkills have been reported from Kothanur, Iblur, Seetarampaalyaa, Chelekere, Madiwala, Kundalahalli, Doddakallasandra, Bhatrahaalli, Somasundarapalya lakes earlier this year. Multiple fishkills have been reported from Kundalahalli and Kothanur lakes this year. Data compiled by Action Aid on fishkill from 2017 reveal a sharp uptick in the phenomenon in lakes in Bengaluru this year.
A study by Action Aid in July 2022 showed that inlet of sewage was one of the major causes of fishkill in lakes in Bengaluru. “Inlet of sewage and organic matter leads to growth of algae and plants on the surface of the lake, which draws up all the dissolved oxygen in the lake ecosystem at night, leading to fishkill. Contamination of the lake water with other effluents can also cause fishkill,” Mr. Pachhapur said.
