GSPCB collects water samples from Miramar Lake; sewage allegedly released
Panaji: Coming on the heels of dead fish surfacing in the waters of Mala Lake in April this year, residents of the Lakeview Colony were greeted on Tuesday by the distressing sight and stench of hundreds of dead fish floating in the Miramar Lake.
The incident, marking the second major fish kill in the capital, has sparked fresh concerns regarding the deteriorating water quality and the apparent failure of urban filtration systems.
The water body at Lakeview Colony, which is a part of the St Inez Creek system, has reportedly turned a murky black and is emitting a nauseating odour. Species such as tilapia and shevte (mullets) were seen floating lifeless across the water surface.
Workers from the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) were pressed into service early in the day to clear the dead fish as the local community watched in dismay.
A CCP official said the depletion of oxygen levels is suspected to be reason for fish deaths, adding that it was seen that sewage was also released into the lake.
The official said the CCP will soon approach the Water Resources Department to take up the cleaning of the lake.
Councillors are also likely to take up the issue at the next meeting of the corporation.
The incident, which has sparked fresh concerns over the deteriorating health of the city’s waterways, prompted the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to collect water samples from Miramar Lake late Tuesday evening for further analysis to determine the exact cause of the mortality.
Three samples have been collected for lab test.
“The water has become completely polluted, and the stench is unbearable,” said an observer at the scene, comparing the situation to the recent fish kill in the Mala Lake.
During the Mala Lake incident, dissolved oxygen levels plummeted to a lethal 0.8 mg/l due to a combination of heavy siltation and the illegal discharge of raw sewage. The incident compelled the High Court of Bombay at Goa to intervene, demanding immediate remedial action and stricter monitoring from state authorities.
Observers fear a similar drop in oxygen levels in Miramar Lake, noting that the filtration systems installed at the site appear ineffective against the current pollutant load.
The Miramar water body is currently not covered under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme, a project sponsored by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Under this existing framework, the GSPCB monitors water quality annually at 115 locations across the state, yet this critical urban waterbody remains excluded from that list.
