Jammu and Kashmir: In a concerning development, one of the largest freshwater- Mansar Lake in Jammu is currently witnessing a distressing phenomenon - a significant number of fish are dying in Mansar Lake in the Samba district of Jammu. With nearly 2000 fish already perished, efforts are underway to mitigate the situation and understand the underlying causes behind this.

The phenomenon has been persisting for the past few days and efforts are underway to remove these fish from the lake continuously. Every day, officials from the Wildlife Department remove the dead fish and bury them in a safe place to prevent any spread of disease due to their decomposition and foul smell, which has become a matter of concern for the residents.

Amit Sharma, a resident said that such incidents have occurred in Mansar Lake before, but this time the number of dead fish is significantly higher. The officials from the Fisheries Department are removing and burying all dead fish to prevent the spread of diseases caused by the foul odour.

According to Surjeet Singh, the Range Officer of Mansar Range in the Wildlife Department, sudden fish deaths began four days ago. "Initially, the numbers were low, and it seemed like the situation would not escalate. However, the deaths continued, and upon investigation, it was found that the deaths were caused by the consumption of algae during the rainy season", he added.