Large number of dead fish found in Berhampur pond
A large number of rotten fish of different species were found swimming in a pond in Odisha’s Ganjam district. Officials gave this information on Saturday.
Ganjam District Fisheries Officer Pramod Raut said that the reduction in dissolved oxygen level or pollution in the pond with high organic load would have claimed the lives of the fishes.
The exact cause of the deaths in the pond in Berhampur’s Krishna Nagar was not immediately known. Fisheries officials also did not rule out poisoning as the reason behind the deaths.
Locals said the dead fish started appearing on Thursday and the number increased on Friday. The foul smell emanating from the rotten fish weighing about one quintal spread in the area.
“We have collected the dead fish samples, as well as the pond water, for laboratory tests to ascertain the exact cause of the deaths,” Raut said.
The official said that since there are no testing facilities in the district fisheries office, the samples will be sent to the fisheries college of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology at Rangilunda.
Fisheries officials advised the local people not to bring dead fish or use pond water till the test reports come.
“We will request the Berhampur Municipal Corporation commissioner to bury the dead fish,” Raut said.
The pond belonged to the municipal body. Earlier the fish farming in the pond was done by the lessee. But fish farming was not done in the pond last year, the locals said.
Read also: Mutilated bodies of man, woman found in apartment in Delhi’s Rohini
.