On Monday morning, around hundreds of dead fish were found floating in the Banganga water tank at the Walkeshwar temple in Mumbai. Every year, following the Pitru Paksha rituals, a large number of fish are found dead in the Banganga tank.

During the `pitru paksha` observance, devotees express their respect for their forefathers by offering food. After the devotees offer prayer, the offered food are immersed in the water tank.

The food submerged in the Banganga water tank during this ritual leads to pollution in the water body, which further led to the demise of the fish.

Meanwhile, around fifty-nine turtles were rescued from an artificial pond at a temple in Maharashtra`s Thane district, according to the forest department official said.

The Thane forest department in a joint operation with Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) rescued the turtles.

Pawan Sharma of RAWW said, “Out of the 59 turtles, 22 were native species such as Indian flap-shell, black pond and Indian tent turtles, which are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the remaining 37 were red-eared sliders, an exotic species.”

“The turtles were examined by veterinarians at RAWW. The native species will be released into the wild”, said Ashok Kateskar, round officer, Thane forest department.

“People buy exotic turtles from the market when they are small and easy to maintain. But when they grow old and big, they become difficult to look after and people abandon them in natural or artificial waterbodies, which is unethical and illegal,” Sharma said.

(with inputs from PTI)

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