Several dead fish washed ashore in Somavathi rivulet which supplies water to several wards in Belthangady Town Panchayat.
Locals suspect poisoning of the water by miscreants as a cause for the mass death.
The locals said that five miscreants had attempted to catch fish in the night. When the police reached the spot, the miscreants had fled from the place.
Town panchayat chief officer Sudhakar and others visited the spot. About 0.6 MLD water was lifted from the rivulet to supply water to 11 wards in the town panchayat jurisdiction. The 11 wards have 1,761 water connections.