After Mala lake, dead fish surface in Campal Lakeview Colony waterbody

Panaji: A fresh fish mortality incident has been reported at the pond in Campal Lakeview Colony, Miramar, with scores of dead fish found floating in the waterbody connected to the St Inez Creek on Tuesday.

Workers of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) cleared the dead fish from the pond. Empty milk packets, potato wafer packets, and plastic water bottles were also found floating in the waterbody, highlighting concerns over pollution.

CCP corporator Leonid Furtado, in whose ward part of the pond is located, said a foul stench from the waterbody was discouraging residents from visiting the area.

“There is a foul stench emanating from the waterbody, which discourages residents from coming to it. Maintaining and upgrading it could generate income for the city,” Furtado said.

The pond was developed by the public works department (PWD) and the water resources department (WRD), with a dedicated canoe deployed to maintain its cleanliness. However, during high tide, water from the St Inez Creek enters the pond, often bringing debris and litter along with it.

The latest incident comes barely two months after a similar fish kill in the Rua de Ourem creek at Mala, Fontainhas, where large quantities of dead fish prompted the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to collect water samples and the fisheries department to conduct an inspection. Officials had then attributed the deaths to oxygen depletion caused by deteriorating water quality.

The incident also drew the attention of the Bombay high court, which took suo motu cognisance of reports of dead fish in the Mala waterbody and made the directorate of health services and the GSPCB parties to the matter. A division bench comprising Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar expressed concern over the condition of water bodies on the periphery of urban areas.

Among the fish found dead in the Mala incident were prized Goan varieties such as chonak (giant sea perch) and kalundar (pearl spot). Subsequent inspections by the CCP identified households allegedly discharging sewage into the waterbody.