Kolkata: Dead fish was found floating again in the Rabindra Sarobar waterbody on Tuesday morning. With the intense heatwave conditions predicted to prevail in the next few days, activists are worried that the quality of Lake water may further deteriorate.
A morning walker after noting a few dead fish on Tuesday informed the sweeper to pick them up from the water.Lake regulars said that at least two to three dead fish are found floating on the water regularly.
“Fish are dying everyday. The quality of water has also deteriorated and the water level has also dipped alarmingly. Thorough dredging and de-silting of the Lake banks is required,” said environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh, a Lake regular.
Officials of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), the custodian of Sarobar, said the dissolved oxygen (DO) level of the lake remains more or less normal and satisfactory. There are some pockets where the DO level fluctuates due to less sunlight.
“A few fish occasionally die due to natural reasons. As per the DO readings, which are monitored daily, the overall DO level of the waterbody usually stays well above the satisfactory level. But we have found that in some zones, the DO level occasionally fluctuates, otherwise, in general, all the parameters remain more or less normal. As for the Lake’s overall water level, as per our readings, it has been found that the level has dipped only about a feet in the past three to four months,” said a KMDA official.