Severe heat wave and dry weather have killed about 40 tonnes of fish in Muktapur village tank of Bhoodan Pochampally mandal in Nalgonda district in the past two days.
Local fishermen began releasing water from the tank to Pochampally tank downstream 20 days ago to reduce the water level so that they could resume fishing.
The water level was just a few feet deep when they started fishing again.
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The water in the tank was confined to a few deep pits a week ago, when the fisher folk had started fishing. Since the villagers were celebrating ‘Bodrai’ installation festival during the weekend, the fishermen community stopped the fishing activity on Thursday, but the water further came down in the tank as the outlet gate remained open. Adding to this, some farmers diverted the water from Musi rivulet to the tank to irrigate their fields located in the backside of the tank.
Speaking to The Hindu , president of Fishermen Co-operative Society Govasu Bhikshapati said that the fish started dying from Thursday night and the entire dead fish were found floating in the tank by Friday. The increasing temperatures and decline in water level were the two main causes of the death of fish en masse, Mr. Bhikshapati said. However, secretary of the association Godasu Balaiah said that they were also suspecting the release of polluted water from the Musi rivulet as one of the causes of the death of fish. The issue needed to be confirmed by the Fisheries Department.
The society with the help of Fisheries Department would send them for lab to know the exact cause.
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Sarpanch of the village Munukuntla Balachandram said the death of fish en masse had never been reported in any of the nearby tanks.