THANE: Hundreds of dead small fish were found floating at Bhoir
lake in the man-made lake at Hari Om Nagar on Thursday. Experts have attributed this to the high toxin levels and lack of dissolved oxygen in the water.
The
Bhoir lake, mainly used during Ganpati visarjans, has turned into a dumping ground as residents continue to throw plastic bags, floral waste and other rubbish in the water body, resulting in high pollution.
Kisan Jadhav, a resident from the area who has been taking care of the lake since 1999, said, “On Wednesday night, I saw a handful of
dead fish floating, but didn’t think too much. However, when I went to the lake on Thursday, I found over 100 to 150 dead fish floating and immediately informed the municipal corporation.”
While the officials from the civic body visited the spot and cleared most of the floating fish carcasses by Thursday evening, the decontamination process will begin on Friday.
“We had beautified the lake in 2013 and constructed an
RCC wall around it. But, the adjoining BMC nallah could be the reason for chances of seepage which could have polluted the lake. The civic body cleans the lake during
Ganapati visarjan’s too. We are in the process of removing all the dead fish and the potassium permanganate will be added to decontaminate the lake on Friday,” said Manisha Pradhan, head of the civic pollution control department.
“Fishing is not permitted in this lake and if we find that it has been illegally used for fishing a police complaint will be made. The TMC has included the maintenance of this in the upcoming tender,” she added.
Representative image