BENGALURU: Hundreds of fish deaths have been reported from Sunkalpalya Lake under Bengaluru West City Corporation (BWCC) over the past three weeks due to suspected water contamination and a decrease in Dissolved Oxygen levels.
A resident and a walker who noticed dead fish floating and a few gasping for breath say the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) officials, when contacted, were just passing the buck.
“I tried to contact officials, but they just gave numbers of other officials and asked me to raise the issue. This is passing the buck, while leaving the actual issue unaddressed,” Dipu Nair, a resident of Sunkalpalya, said.
Nair said the matter was also raised with a senior official of the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), but did not receive any reply and later realised that the custody of the water body has been transferred from BDA to GBA.
“The officials have deployed a few workers who come with gunny bags and plastic sacks to collect and dispose of the dead fish. This has been happening for the last few days. It appears to be a cover-up act. If dead fish are not removed, the stench would have become unbearable, and the issue would have become big,” he said.
Executive Engineer (Lakes), BWCC, Geetha, said the layouts near BGS Hospital Side need to be connected with sewage lines and the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has also informed that a diversion channel will be installed to prevent sewage inflow into the 15.4-acre tank.
“We have raised the matter with BWSSB and asked them to take steps to ensure the water body is not polluted with sewage. They too have assured that civic works will be taken up,” said Geetha.
A senior official also expressed concern over the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), an autonomous body that can address the issue by issuing notices and pulling up the BWSSB, for letting their sewage flow into the lake. “If KSPCB pulls up the water board, then the works would gain pace and lake pollution can be fixed,” said the official.
