Severe drought and lack of water have killed thousands of fish at the Boodanooru Lake in Mandya. The lake has been given on contract to some villagers who depend on the fish sales for their livelihood. They are in dire straits now following the fish death. Added to the water scarcity, the water is polluted, suffocating the fish. Villagers, who have taken the lake on contract by paying over Rs. 5 lakh to obtain fishlings to populate the lake, have now appealed to the Fisheries Department to shift the surviving fish at the lake to other water bodies so that they can survive.