KALYAN: A month after over 100 Indian softshell turtles were found dead in a lake in Kalyan, a laboratory report suggests that different bacteria in body parts of the turtles led to their deaths, and also suggests that water in the lake was polluted.
The turtles were found dead in Gauripada lake on January 24. The water body was beautified by KDMC two years ago. A forest team had sent the carcasses to the Centre for Wildlife Conservation, Management and Disease Surveillance, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. The Indian Veterinary Research Institute for laboratory examination conducted several tests and found bacteria led to the deaths.
The forest department probing the cause of death said that the laboratory report suggests that untreated drainage water released in the lake could be reason for bacteria that led to death of the turtles.
Earlier wildlife experts had suspected that turtles died due to some disease or poisoning in the lake by those who fish there since turtles eat up fish inside.
The forest department has decided to write to KDMC to divert the flow of a nullah that releases untreated that is flushed into the lake by residents. Range forest officer Raghunath Channe said that the water sample report has not been received yet, but the laboratory report from Bareilly "suggests that different bacteria killed these turtles and it is strong possibilities these bacteria emerged in the lake due to untreated water released through nullahs in the lake by locals through drainage line".
