A day after several fish were found dead in the Shantaram lake of Malad, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to test the water.
A day after several fish were found dead in the Shantaram lake of Malad, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to test the water.
Under pressure from the residents, the local ward office collected samples from the waterbody and sent the same for chemical analysis at a civic laboratory in Dadar.
On Monday morning, locals found more than 50 fish of various species floating dead in the lake. After they alerted the civic body, a team was sent to the spot for inspection.
"They (BMC) just had a look and did nothing about the dead fish. We kept on saying that the water might have turned toxic, but they merely photographed the lake and went away," alleged a resident, Dinesh Sawant.
He also claimed that he and others repeatedly called up the P-North ward control room for a detailed probe in the matter. However, the civic staff reportedly said the reason for the dead fish was a heavy dose of potassium permanganate (alum) that was introduced in the waterbody.
Civic officials claimed that in order to conduct regular filtration of the lake, the maintenance department had put the chemical purifier in it. An alleged overdose resulted in the death of aquatic life in the waterbody.
"The test samples were sent last night to the lab to determine the cause of the incident. A chemical analysis of the water samples will be carried out and a report is expected in a couple of days," an official said.
Similar incidents have happened at the Malad waterbody in the past, wherein the water had turned black and several fish were found dead.
Local resident Suraj Kurup claimed that in 2014 and 2015, the lake was found emanating a foul odour. "We fear that the lake's toxicity has gone up. And the BMC is doing nothing about it," she alleged.
Assistant municipal commissioner (P-north) Sangeeta Hasnale remained unavailable for comment.
Fisheries dept directs BMC to observe dying fish
The BMC found itself in a fix on Monday, when the state fisheries department directed it to check the pattern of the dying fish. According to the local staff, the department asked the inspection team to check if the fish were dying by keeping their mouth out of water or by circling on the surface before floating dead. "How can we check that? We are not experts in fisheries education. We just wrote unexplained deaths," an officer said.
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