Something’s fishy in Rawal Lake

Police launch probe against ‘unidentified people’ as hundreds of fish turn up dead

ISLAMABAD: Police on Saturday launched a probe after hundreds of dead fish floated the surface of the Rawal Lake, sparking fears of poisoning in the reservoir.

Secretariat police have collected samples of water and dead fish and have dispatched them to the laboratory to check for contamination and to establish why the fish turned up dead.

The investigation was launched after the Islamabad Fisheries Department submitted a complaint against a “local mafia residing around the Rawal Lake”.



The department said that while fishing is primarily banned in the lake, a contract for fishing was awarded to Bahadur Sher Afridi of Younas Enterprises for Rs44 million. The contract runs for two years.

However, the department and the contractor were continuously plagued by illegal fishing by unauthorised people in the lake.

To prevent illegal fishing, an operation was carried out recently and several violators were booked and their boats were seized.

“At least five people were arrested and 20 boats confiscated,” said Fisheries Deputy Director Sadiq Buzdar in his complaint to the police.

“Due to these actions against them, this mafia has been threatening the department and the contractor about contaminating and intoxicating the water to endanger the fish and the public at large,” Buzdar said.

“After the operation [against them], this mafia started their ‘terrorist activities’ and mixed some lethal poison into the water of Rawal Lake and till date a large amount of fish has been found dead and more are still dying on a daily basis,” he maintained.

He added that there was a fear that if any poison has been dumped into the water, it could impact the health of the public since hundreds of thousands of residents of Rawalpindi draw water from the reservoir for daily use.

Police have registered a case against unidentified people for fouling the water and killing the fish.

A police officer told The Express Tribune that they had collected samples of water and dead fish from the lake and they would be dispatched to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency for a chemical examination.



Asked why the complaint had been lodged against unidentified people, the officer explained that officials from the fisheries department had not specifically named anyone in their complaint.

However, he assured that action would be taken against anyone identified by the fisheries department for contaminating the lake.

A general ban on boating and fishing, except for the contractor, in the lake has been in place for around a year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2017.