‘KSPCB, Fisheries dept not doing much to save lakes’

BENGALURU: With fish kill being reported annually in Bengaluru and various panchayat limits, especially during summer, activists have trained their guns on the KSPCB and Fisheries department. They opine that KSPCB has limited itself to identifying pollution in lakes and the Fisheries Department is concerned only about commercial activities.

Ram Prasad, convenor of Friends of Lakes, said KSPCB is supposed to be strict in dealing with pollution and its control mechanism, but it is only identifying polluted lakes. Similarly, the Fisheries department, which has to take water samples and help farmers, is engaged purely in commercial activities.

“The survival of lakes under BBMP’s ambit depends on the role of KSPCB and the Fisheries department. KSPCB should not just visit the spot, but also ensure the institutions polluting the lakes are penalised. In most cases, only the National Green Tribunal is pulling up the culprits. Fisheries department offered the ‘soup bowl’ design for many lake renovations. It is encouraging commercial fishing which will result in ecological imbalance,” he rued.

Raghavendra Pachhapur, senior project lead, Action Aid, said he found out from a report that 21 lakes are already in Class-E which means it is not fit for wildlife and fisheries. “16 fishkills were recorded from January to December 2022. KSPCB is only testing water samples, that too only in 50% of Bengaluru lakes,” he added.