Activists blame Varthur breach for fish deaths
BENGALURU: Days after the sewage diversion channel breach at Varthur Lake, mass fish kill has come to light at Varthur Kodi (stream), on Tuesday. Activists said they had expected this as polluted water had entered the lake, following the sewage diversion channel breach on October 11.
Jagadish Reddy, a lake activist, said, “Rejuvenation work of Varthur Lake is going on. Inside the 440-acre lake, there are many small ponds with fish in them. As sewage water flooded the lake last week, it would have impacted the availability of dissolved oxygen (DO) for the fish, and that would have led to the fish kill.” The activist added that so far, no officials have come and taken any action, and lamented that Varthur Lake rejuvenation will be a massive task.
Reddy said the number of fish dying is much higher as we are only seeing the dead fish at Varthur Lake. Thousands of dead fish would have been washed away and entered downstream areas of the Dakshina Pinakini river system which enters Tamil Nadu, as the water gates at Varthur village were opened by officials to drain out water from Varthur Lake.
SS Aravind, Assistant Executive Engineer, Bangalore Development Authority, said whenever storm water enters lakes, there are chances of fish death due to DO level depletion. “Since there was a breach of sewage diversion channel last week near Balagere village, and sewage entered the lake, fish deaths would have taken place. We are now fixing the breached channel and tank bund construction work is going on,” he said.
The official also stated that efforts are on to strengthen the diversion channel capacity so that it can withstand heavy rain. He also said that once Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) completes work related to sending treated water to Varthur Lake from its Sewage Treatment Plants, constant supply of water to the rejuvenated lake will be ensured and such mass fish death episodes will not repeat, adding that work is on to clear the dead fish.