High level of pollution has eliminated all fish, except Nilotica, from a major part of the city’s Dhanmondi Lake.

In other parts of the lake, anglers consider themselves lucky if they can catch a fish weighing 4 kg in this water, body which once was an angler’s delight.

According to the Department of Fisheries' Dhanmondi Lake Project officials and the Anglers' Association, some 20 sewer lines have remained connected with the lake for years, bringing in human wastes, chemicals and all sorts of Junk and other effluents.

As a result, the oxygen level of the lake's water has dropped alarmingly and the lake gives off a bad smell.

Mud and dirt brought in by the Panthapath sewer line have replaced the lake's water Just i beside the Fisheries office near

Dhanmondi Old Road No 32.

A Fisheries official said there was no fish in the lake in the area between the Dhanmondi Road-8 bridge and the Dhanmondi Road-32 bridge. Th? soiled water of this part can no longer be purified with chemicals due to the high level of pollution, officials said.

Some ten years ago, anglers caught fish weighing even upto 30 kgs from this lake but that Is unimaginable now. "Even a small catch should be considered very good luck nowadays," an official of the Anglers' Association said.

With fish having become scarce in the lake the number of anglers, who buy seasonal tickets from the association, has also dropped markedly from 400 to 100 this year.

“In' addition to the pollution, thieves raid the lake with current net In the night and

take away whatever they find," the Fisheries official said, adding that innumerable cases have been lodged with Dhanmondi thana.

Only a year ago, the situation was even worse as with 44 sewer linds emptying into the lake at that time. On one occasion last year, most of the bigger fish of the lake died due to lack of oxygen. The Wasa later closed over 50 per cent of the sewer connections. Many trees planted along the banks of the lake have died due to waterlogging.

The Fisheries Department has an annual budget of around Tk 20 to 30 lakh for the development and conservation of the lake, which once provided relief to the city dwellers. It also releases carp fries worth Tk 40.000 to 50.000 into the lake annually.