Mysuru: Alarmed by the death of hundreds of fish at the Kukkarahalli Lake, environment activists alerted the Forest Department and a team from the Department arrived at the Lake yesterday to collect samples of dead fish.

The Department officials arrived at the Lake premises following the directions of In-charge Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) V. Yedukondalu. The officials went around the Lake in a boat and found several dead fish floating on the sides of the Lake. They collected samples of Tilapia (Jalebi fish) and will send it to a laboratory to determine the cause of the death.

Environment activists have said that uncontrolled flow of sewage and soap water into the Lake from Paduvarahalli and surrounding areas is killing the fish. Tilapias have grown bigger and birds are not eating the fish as it is bigger in size. As fishing activities have been banned in the Lake, fishes have grown bigger, they said.

“On an average, 50 to 60 fishes die in the Lake every day and the foul smell is unbearable. The smell is more during mornings and evenings when the wind pressure is less. The University of Mysore, which is the custodian of the Lake, is not taking any steps to solve this problem and the authorities are not even ready to listen to our pleas,” alleged an environment activist.

“When we conducted a mass cleaning campaign at Kukkarahalli Lake recently we collected truckloads of garbage that included liquor, beer bottles and leftover meat pieces. This supports our argument that people are entering the Lake in the nights to indulge in parties,” he said and added that there was no response from the University to the cleaning campaign and the nature photo expo at the Lake.