Scores of dead fish spotted in Indira Park lake

The situation was so bad the previous week that boats and fishing nets had to be deployed by the Walkers Association to clear the carcasses of the fish.
Fish found dead in Indira Park lake in city | RVK Rao
Fish found dead in Indira Park lake in city | RVK Rao

HYDERABAD: In the past two weeks, several hundreds of dead fish have washed ashore in the Indira Park Lake — after the monsoon showers, as per walkers who frequent the park.  
The situation was so bad the previous week that boats and fishing nets had to be deployed by the Walkers Association to clear the carcasses of the fish. The lake-shore began emanating a foul smell, discouraging visitors to take up boat rides.

Fish found dead in Indira Park
lake in city | RVK Rao

Walkers are now blaming the GHMC for letting chemicals and polluted water flow into it untreated. The main culprit, they say, is the civic body’s garbage transfer station beside the park.
“The fish were thriving all these years sans fish-seed cultivation. However, the toxic leachate from rotting garbage in the dumpyard is flowing into the lake,” said Dr Sudhakhar Yadav, president of Indira Park Walkers Association. Leachate is a common byproduct from dumpyards, which is released after water passes through plastic and other non-biodegradable materials. Leachate carries toxic components of the same. The Domalguda GHMC garbage transfer station is located right beside the park.

Walkers further added that since the lake is linked with Hussainsagar, any untreated sewage in it would impact the downstream. “The GHMC has not taken any measures since 2017 for its upkeep. In 2017, the association had pooled in some money and cleaned the lake. Nobody has bothered about it since,” said Yadav.

Officials from Biodiversity Wing, meanwhile, say that the issue arises due to sudden dip in oxygen levels of the lake. “We approached the fisheries department officials who said that the oxygen levels had dipped due to a sudden spurt in population of fishes,” said Ram Mohan, Director of Urban Bio Diversity Wing, GHMC. He further refuted the leachate claims as the garbage transfer station had no water discharge.

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