Board analyses water quality of Wards Lake
SHILLONG: The State Pollution Control Board is analysing the water quality of Wards Lake in the city following the death of several fishes in the lake which is a prominent tourist spot in the city.
An official from the State Pollution Control Board said that every month the Board conducts the water quality analysis and following the death of the fishes, it collected the sample for water quality on Wednesday.
“The analysis is going on and it will take some time to give all the details of the water quality of the lake,” the official said.
In addition, the Fisheries Minister has also directed the officials of the department to conduct its own inquiry about the death of the fishes in the lake.
The inquiry of the department will only focus on fishes and not on the water quality.
It may be mentioned that several fishes and birds have been found dead in the lake raising alarm as to what caused their death.
Another official from the Fisheries department said that they are awaiting the report from the Pollution Control Board about the water quality analysis.
The official also informed that the department found three dead fishes in the lake including one common carp fish and two grass carp fishes.
Though Wards Lake is one of the major tourist spots in the city, different segments of the site are maintained by different departments of the state government.
While the lawns of the lake are maintained by the Forest department, the boats for boating are managed by Tourism department whereas the lake is managed by the Fisheries department.
As the water of the lake is stagnant and not flowing freely, many environmentalists earlier had also questioned about the water quality.
It was also said that when the British made the lake, they also made provisions of a feeder line to supply fresh water in the lake but over the years and with rapid development, the feeder line of the lake is nowhere to be seen.