Bengaluru lake filled with thousands of dead fish, shocking video goes viral

Thousands of dead fish were seen floating at Bengaluru’s Chikkanagamangala lake in second such incident in the city in two years.
Local residents said that the mysterious deaths of the fish were due to contaminated water from a nearby solid waste management plant run by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) being released into the lake. Residents said they had informed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and expect the officials to come inspect the lake water.
“Similar to last year, thousands of fishes died in Chikkanagamangala lake (Biocon lake) near Electronic City. Mostly due to toxic water entering the lake from near by waste management plant operated by BBMP,” wrote X user Electronic City Rising, who shared a video of the macabre visuals at the lake.
The user said that locals have been raising concerns against processing plant from 2018 but no action has been taken so far.
The video also caught the attention of Biocon founder and chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who called out the state government for being “irresponsible”.
“It is very irresponsible of government agencies to pollute rejuvenated lakes. All our efforts were destroyed by this sewage and toxic water despite being assured that the inlet would be closed,” Kiran Muzumdar Shaw, wrote in a post on X. (Also read: Fish die in Bengaluru’s Kothanur Lake due to entry of sewage)
The Chikkanagamangala waste-processing plant, located about 300 metres from the lake, handles approximately 100 metric tonnes of garbage daily. Locals have consistently opposed the facility, citing unscientific waste management. A recent National Green Tribunal (NGT) joint committee inspection found that the plant lacked adequate leachate-treatment facilities.
However, officials from Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) countered, stating, “We installed a leachate-treatment unit at the plant around five months ago, treating 50,000 litres daily. No untreated waste is released, and the treated water is used for tree planting. Any sewage in the lake likely comes from other sources.”