Killing fish with 'poison' at Uttara lake

A huge number of dead fish have floated to the surface of the lake at Uttara sector 5 in the capital.

A certain Kazi Abdul Aziz leased the lake for fish farming. He alleged that poison was poured into the lake to kill the fish. He said a local political leader was involved in the matter.

Inspector of Uttara west police station Nasir Uddin told Prothom Alo, "I have visited the spot and nobody has filed any complaints till now."

Abdul Aziz said he had taken lease of the lake for fish cultivation since 2010. The lease ended in 2016 and was not renewed as Rajuk was to carry out development work there. However, since the development work was delayed, Aziz released fish fries in the lake.

Aziz said the president of Awami League Uttara west thana unit, Monwar Islam, instructed him over phone to take a certain Nasir Sarker along with him in his fish farming. A few days later, two persons, Mohammed Mizan and Shajahan, came to him and said they also wanted to be be involved in the fish cultivation. He rejected their proposal.

"The fish were poisoned because I didn't agree to their proposal," Aziz alleged.

Monwar Islam denied phoning Aziz.

He also said the lake is not under anybody's lease now as Rajuk was to carry out development work there. "How is Aziz cultivating fish in the lake then?" Monwar Islam asked.

When contacted over phone, Mizan denied Aziz's allegations and Mohammed Shajahan's cell phone was switched off

cExecutive engineer of Rajuk Enamul Kadir said the duration of lease had ended, but Abdul Aziz continued cultivating fish. 'We notified Aziz to finish catching the fish," said Kadir adding that he knew nothing about the fish being killed.

Innumerable fish were floating on the lake on Saturday, mostly telapia as well as rui, grass carp and katla.

Aziz claimed the fish were worth around Tk 12 lakh (Tk 1.2 million).

Local people had noticed the fish jumping about unusually since Friday evening. Some fish even jumped on to the land. Some people even took away a lot of the fish.
*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.