Butler Palace lake: Refuse from shanties around entering Lucknow colony lake, killing fish

Hutments around Butler Palace colony are pouring domestic refuse into the colony’s lake, reducing the dissolved oxygen to such an extent that fish inside the pond are dying

Hutments around Butler Palace colony are pouring domestic refuse into the colony’s lake, reducing the dissolved oxygen to such an extent that fish inside the pond are dying. More than 12 tonnes of fish have died in the last three days.

Butler Palace lake: either the waste needs to be treated or the encroachers need to be removed, says LMC (HT Photo)

Municipal commissioner Ajay Dwivedi said, “LMC has pressed in four boats and 20 employees to remove the dead fish from the pond. The LMC has taken the responsibility of removing the fish to save residents of the colony from the spread of other diseases.”

“The lake is the property of Raja Mehmoodabad. We have informed the department of fisheries to identify the exact reason behind the death of the fish in the lake. The encroachers around the pond are releasing their sewer directly into the pond and this has been brought to the notice of PWD. The waste needs to be treated or the encroachers need to be removed.”

Sunilkant, executive engineer, PWD, said, “From 2017, the lake has been maintained by Raja Mehmoodabad. It seems that the fish are dying due to lack of oxygen in the pond as the sewer of hutments around Butler Palace is opening in it. The lake needs to be maintained well by Raja Mehmoodabad.”

Locals said that the lake has not been cleaned by the Raja Mehmoodabad as a number of plastic bottles and waste material keeps floating in the lake.