BENGALURU: The Doddagubbi Lake in eastern Bengaluru’s Mahadevpura constituency became a graveyard on Saturday with thousands of fish found dead across the 125-acre water body.
No official reason has been given for fish death, while an activist’s suspicion of sewage dumping remains unverified. Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said, “I have asked officers to examine and take corrective action.”
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Chairman B Shivanna, who is an MLA from Anekal, told TNSE that he will visit the lake on Monday.
Former KSPCB Chairman Dr Sharath Chandra explained how such deaths unfold. “One of the most common causes of such sudden fish mortality is depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the lake, particularly when untreated or inadequately treated sewage enters the water body,” he said. “When this organic matter and algae decompose, microorganisms consume large quantities of dissolved oxygen, potentially creating hypoxic or near-anaerobic conditions in which fish can suffocate,” he said.
The activist, KC Mahesh, a regular walker at the lake, said, “I suspect that since this is a long weekend, some unscrupulous builders have taken advantage because officials will not be there, and let raw sewage into the lake.”
Urban expert Dr Ashwin Mahesh said the tragedy is a symptom of a deeper governance failure. The GBA had taken back control of lakes from local communities, many of whom had looked after them well. “In many lakes, animals and birds had returned after local communities started looking after the water bodies,” he said.
“Since the lakes were taken back, problems such as sewage inflow have emerged. On many occasions, guards posted to protect the lakes are not physically present at the sites,” he said.