Maharashtra: After holy rituals, fish die at Banganga tank at Walkeshwar

In what has almost become an annual feature at the historic Banganga tank at Walkeshwar, dead fish were found floating on Tuesday, after hordes of people immersed food dumplings in water as part of the Pitrupaksha rituals.

Residents from the immediate vicinity said it is only a common sight every year. Every year, hundreds of people visit the tank complex to observe Pitrupaksha and pay homage to their dead ancestors. "It's a religious practice that has been going on for ages and so, it is difficult to stop it all of a sudden. This time too, dead fish have been seen at the surface but the number is far less than earlier," said a local.

Meanwhile, Former principal scientist at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Dr Vinay Deshmukh, said, during this ritual, cooked rice balls and wheat are immersed in water, which not only becomes food for bacteria but also increases their population. "The bacteria consumes the dissolved oxygen thereby depleting it quickly resulting in mass death of fish and the only solution is to stop immersing the offerings in water. The 'pind' could be fed to an animal or bird instead," he said adding that since this water is stagnant the dissolved oxygen is quickly depleted and subsequently, floating dead fish are found.