Mass fish deaths in Delhi's Sanjay Lake as water level depletes; supply disruption may be trigger

Hundreds of fish have died in east Delhi's Sanjay Lake, with officials saying this may be due to drying up of the lake owing to issues with water-supply.

Water to Sanjay Lake is supplied by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which manages the large water body, said in a statement on Friday that ''the responsibility for the supply of treated water to maintain the lake water level was assigned to a government-owned water supplying agency.''.

According to DDA, pipelines were laid to transport treated water from the nearby Kondli sewage treatment plant (STP) to Sanjay Lake.

A DJB official privy to the development told PTI on condition of anonymity that supply of treated water to the lake has been affected due to damage to pipeline and subsequent repair works.

They said due to repair works, there has been no supply of water to the lake for the past four months.

''The pipeline to supply water to the water body was damaged around four months ago, but then the temperatures were not so high and the situation was managed. But now, amid the heatwave, the lake has dried out,'' the official said.

The lake is part of the previous government's 'City of Lakes' programme, and has been revived by multiple agencies, including the DDA and DJB, since 2024.

''DDA also carried out various works to connect flooding points and channelise stormwater into the lake. Multiple inlet points along the peripheral boundary walls were identified to facilitate diversion of rainwater from waterlogged roads into the lake area,'' the DDA said in a statement.

According to water expert Bhim Singh Rawat, parts of the lake dried up, alleging leakage in the DJB water supply line, which may have resulted in mass fish deaths.

''Recently, there was leakage in the water supply pipeline to the lake, resulting in significant lowering of water level in the lake. There is no official information when exactly the leakage happened. By now, some parts of the lake have turned bone dry. This has resulted in mass fish deaths,'' Rawat, a Yamuna activist and member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, said.

The heat spell has played a considerably little role in evaporating the remaining water. At the heart of the problem lies the opaque and unaccountable governance environment in Delhi, he alleged.

''Major development works related to restoration and strengthening of the lake infrastructure, have already been completed by DDA,'' the agency said in its statement.

There was no response from the DJB or the Delhi government on the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)