SHIVAMOGGA: The villagers of Matturu, popularly known as the ‘Sanskrit Village’, - thanks to the good number of Sanskrit-speaking people - have for long been protecting a portion of the Tunga river flowing behind a Ram temple as it is a fish sanctuary, akin to Sringeri. Now, they are at a loss to explain the sudden death of fish at this very spot.
For years, visitors would feed puffed rice to the fish every day and enjoy the sight. However, for the past week, this section of the river has turned into a death trap for the species.
Krishnamurthy, a villager, told TNIE that fish are dying every day and that the water has turned green. Villagers are aghast at the sight of dead fish floating on the river surface. One of the suspected reasons is that the fish might have died due to copper sulphate crystals, used for fishing, entering the water or due to the depleted dissolved oxygen levels. The exact cause is yet to be ascertained.
Assistant director of fisheries, K S Raghavendra said samples of dead fish have been sent to the College of Fisheries in Mangaluru for testing.