Bengaluru: Residents near Bengaluru's Ulsoor Lake have complained of a foul smell with authorities failing to clear the dead fish that washed ashore two days ago.
The rotting fish attracted swarms of flies and insects, even as officials said Wednesday they were still trying to ascertain what exactly went wrong.
"I have been staying here for the last 45 years and this is for the first time I am seeing such a thing. There has been a lot of sewage entering the lake and we have been trying to tell the BBMP over the last 5-6 years" said Syed Moinuddin, an Ulsoor resident.
Ajay Sapra, another local resident said “It’s a catastrophe. We will see the aftereffects in a few weeks from now, when there will be no marine life in the lake and migratory birds stop coming. Tourists too won't come because the stench is too much."
With the rotting fish posing a health hazard, morning walkers too have started avoiding the area.
Ulsoor lake, a large water body in central Bengaluru, attracts hundreds of migratory birds but the numbers have been dwindling. The birds which eat these fish have not been spotted in recent years.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) blame untreated sewage for the fish kill, saying it cut down oxygen levels in the lake drastically.
IISC researcher Sudarshan Bhat said they visited the lake two months ago and found that the oxygen content was more than the minimum required for fishes, which is 5 MD/ litre. “We found 10 MD /litre and this time, it was 2 MD/ litre," he said.
The Karnataka Pollution Control Board said it was yet to get the results of its tests.
Comments
0 comment