INDORE: Fishermen from Indore staged a protest on the premises of Indore Municipal Corporation office on Wednesday over the recent death of fish at Bilawali pond. The protesters led by National Association of Fishermen claimed that they did not have any involvement in death of fish and it was clear mismanagement on part of the civic body.Fishermen reached civic body office with boat, net and drums and started raising slogans against IMC authorities over the issue. They alleged that more than 16 lakh fish died due to carelessness of civic body officials.They also claimed that IMC officials were unaware about the presence of fish. "They did not have any idea about how many rare breeds of fish were there in the tank. It was only when they released the water they came to know about their presence, but it was very late," claimed the protesting fishermen at the IMC office.Refuting the allegation leveled by IMC officials about their involvement in the incident, Alankar Raikwar told TOI, "Over 15 tonne of fish died after civic body released valves of Bilawali Tank." "Why would we do something that would kill our source of earning?" he questioned. He said that the carelessness on part of IMC will affect source of livelihood of 150 families in Indore who were dependent on Bilawali pond. They have been paying a royalty of around Rs3 lakh every year to Fisheries Department for fishing in lakes and ponds in the region. Raikwar also said this (from June 14 to August 14) was breeding time for fish and when fishing is not allowed. " Each Bilawali fish was supposed to give at least 150 eggs at a time and this lot of fishes was supposed to be there for the whole year. "Now there are no fish in the tank, and these 150 fishermen families of Indore have been left with no option to earn their livings," he rued.Protesting fishermen demanded for immediate sacking of IMC officials who were at fault in releasing the water from Bilawali and threatened to launch a state-wide strike.

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