Panaji: The Bombay high court has taken suo motu cognizance of reports of large quantities of dead fish found floating in Mala lake. The high court has made the directorate of health services and Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) parties in the matter.When the PIL came up for hearing on Monday, the bench comprising Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar said it is concerned about the issue and about such things happening to water bodies on the periphery of cities. It also referred to the Saipem lake pollution at Navelim.Advocate general Devidas Pangam told the high court that it would look into the matter and find out the status of it. After the hearing, Pangam said govt and GSPCB are carrying out inspections of this lake to find out the cause. He said this will be reported to the court on Tuesday.Locals had raised an alarm over the issue and the GSPCB had collected samples of the lake water for testing. Giant sea perch (chonak) and pearl spot (kalundar) were among the prized Goan fish varieties dead and floating in the river.Officials from the fisheries department also visited the site for inspection. Mayor Rohit Monserrate had attributed the instance to release of sewage into the water body. He said the CCP would identify each and every household releasing sewage in Taleigao and Panaji.
