Fishing in troubled waters

National Green Tribunal
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board
The(NGT) has criticised the(KSPCB) and other agencies for not filing reports on fish kill incidents between 2017 and 2023 in Bengaluru's lakes.The Southern bench of the Tribunal said in its order dated June 4, 2025, that the report by KSPCB and other official respondents in a suo motu case has not been filed despite several opportunities.'Despite several opportunities having been granted, the report of the Karnataka SPCB is still awaited. Likewise, the official respondents, except Respondent No.1 (Central Pollution Control Board), have not filed their respective replies/reports,' said the Green Court in its order.The Tribunal filed the case based on an article published in Bangalore Mirror. The suo motu case was filed by the principal bench of NGT in May 2024, following the BM article that was published in March. The report highlighted an analysis of fish kill incidents in Bengaluru's lakes conducted by a city-based NGO, ActionAid Association.The article published in BM highlighted that between 2017 and 2023, Bengaluru witnessed as many as 61 fish kill incidents across multiple lakes. The detailed analysis of these incidents conducted by ActionAid Association showed that four lakes, namely Bhatrahalli, Munnekollala, Chelekere, and Iblur, with multiple fish kills in the given period, have exclusive Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). The highest number of fish kills (6) was recorded at Kothnur Lake, followed by five episodes at Haralur and three at Madiwala, Bhatrahalli, and Kundalhalli lakes.Moreover, in 2023 alone, 20 fish kill episodes were observed in 15 waterbodies, with multiple incidents reported from Kothnur, Kundalahalli, and Bhatrahalli lakes. Three of the 15 lakes (Kothnur, Bhatrahalli, and Iblur) also had a history of fish kill in 2022. The study also underlined that the number of these incidents is only increasing year after year.A correlation between water quality analysis of these lakes and incidents of fishkill was also established. The report underlined that the primary cause of all these incidents was untreated sewage. These lakes are situated around the 110 villages with no underground drainage connection except Sankey Tank and Madiwala Tank. Analysis showed that nine out of the 15 lakes that recorded these incidents in 2023 had water quality under Class E for one to five months.Following the report, NGT had noted violations of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Solid Waste Management Guidelines, 2016, and provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and sent notices to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Department of Fisheries of Animal Husbandry, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and Deputy Commissioner & District Magistrate.'KSPCB has been monitoring the water quality of lakes and rivers under the National Water Monitoring programme (NWMP) as a formality. NWMP has not gone beyond testing. Both CPCB and NGT must come down heavily on the state pollution monitoring agencies about their roles and existence. If SPCBs take no action on mitigating pollution, the NWMP is a waste of resources. KSPCB is neglecting its duty of restoring water bodies. Similarly, BBMP is missing on preventing pollution as the lake custodian,' said Raghavendra B Pacchhapur of ActionAid Association.

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