Several dead fish, snails found floating in Bengaluru’s Madiwala Lake

Residents blame the rising pollution in Madiwala lake and sewage entering the water body from the nearby storm water drains.  
Several dead fish, snails found floating in Bengaluru’s Madiwala Lake
Several dead fish, snails found floating in Bengaluru’s Madiwala Lake
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Morning walkers and residents of BTM Layout were in for a shock on Thursday morning, when they saw thousands of dead snails and fish floating on the banks of the Madiwala Lake, one of the largest water bodies in Bengaluru. According to reports, residents have pointed to the growing pollution in the water body, while Forest Department officials who manage the lake, call it a natural phenomenon. 

According to a report in The Times of India, residents say that they have never witnessed such an incident before and that sewage entering the lake from a nearby storm water drain could have caused the death of the fishes, snails.

The Madiwala Lake, which is spread over more than 150 acres, is also one of the oldest lakes in Bengaluru. In 2016, city-based bird watchers had found that several species of migratory birds from Siberia in central Asia and the Arctic had stopped coming to the lake, which was their preferred winter home. 

Regarding the concerns on sewage water entering the storm water drain, officials told The Deccan Chronicle, "Though sewage has entered the lake, we cannot conclude anything now. When rainwater enters the lake, some creatures survive and some do not; this is a natural phenomenon."

Incidentally, in the last week of September, around one thousand fish were found dead in Kalkere Lake near Horimavu. Again, residents had expressed their concerns over sewage flow and poor maintenance of the lake by the BBMP officials. 

In a similar instance in March 2016, thousands of dead fish had washed up along the banks of Ulsoor Lake. Vaman Acharya, former chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, had then told TNM that untreated sewage flowing into the lake was choking marine life. Untreated sewage from the localities between MG Road and Indiranagar was flowing into primary drains and then into Ulsoor lake, he said.  

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