Yet again, hundreds of fish have died in the Banganga after lakhs of people immersed offerings of food into the historic tank as part of the Pitrupaksh rituals on Saturday
Locals clean out the dead fish from Banganga Tank yesterday. Pics/Bipin Kokate
Yet again, hundreds of fish have died in the Banganga after lakhs of people immersed offerings of food into the historic tank as part of the Pitrupaksh rituals on Saturday.
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Hundreds of dead fish were found floating among the Pitrupaksh offerings this weekend
Hordes of people do puja on the banks of this sacred tank, and make offerings of flour and flowers to pay homage to their forefathers and ask for blessings in return. For the fish living in the tank, however, this food becomes a curse. It increases pollution in the water, and even though the food eventually decays, in the process, the oxygen in the water gets used up, leaving the fish gasping for breath.
To save the fish from this cruel death, a couple of days before Pitrupaksh, the tank needs to be emptied and the water pumped out to the sea, so that the fish swim to safety. This has not been done for a “technical reason,” said local activist Sanjay Shirke, adding, “We also need oxygen pumps to pump oxygen into the water, for the aquatic life to survive.”
Many locals were at work, cleaning out the dead fish from the tank last evening. Many were working in earnest, but some were taking the fish home, while there were others simply frolicking near the water.
'Annual event'
Praveen Kanvinde, member of the Gaud Saraswat Trust, which maintains the tank, sighs when asked about the large number of fishes that are dead. “This is an annual phenomenon,” says Kanvinde. He adds, “The Banganga Tank is basically treated as the Kashi of Mumbai by a lot of people. Rituals are performed here, last rites are conducted and, of course, rituals peak during Pitrupaksh. Things are put into the water and there is pollution. Yet, these are the sentiments of the people. It is not easy to stop this. There were lakhs of people at Banganga during the last two days.”
According to the Trust, one way to stop this problem is to develop another place near the seashore for people to conduct such rites and rituals.
“There has to be a dedicated spot near the seashore so that the pressure on Banganga will ease. The government and the Archeology department have to work towards this,” says Kanvinde.
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