The residents living in the vicinity started noticing the floating dead fish last week. The number of dying fish kept increasing until Tuesday.
BBMP officials said the fish are dying as the fishermen have been deliberately removing the fish they were rearing in the lake.
“Now, as the summers have begun, there is too little water in the lake to rear fish. So, the fishermen are removing the fish in the lake. While fishing, some fish that were discarded died and remained floating in the lake. The fishermen may clear the floating dead fish eventually,” said a BBMP official. Some residents claimed fish deaths are common in many lakes in Bengaluru, especially during summers. “The presence of excess phosphorous will cause the death of aquatic life in water bodies, as that prevents the release of oxygen into the water. An increase in pollutants also might have caused the fish deaths, as there is an inflow of sewage into the lake,” said one of the residents.
They also complained about some commercial establishments, garages and residents are dumping garbage in the periphery of the lake.
“The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) should come up with a detailed map of sewage lines, which the public can access online. Maps can be put up in various layouts and large apartments so that citizens realise what is going wrong where,” said Soumya Misra, a resident of Mytri Layout in Whitefield.