One arrested over dead fish in Delhi's Yamuna river, released on bail

Delhi Police arrested one person on Saturday (14 November) in connection with dead fish found in the Yamuna river; the accused was subsequently released on bail. North District Police said the arrest for creating mischief followed a complaint from the Delhi government's Irrigation and Flood Control Department. An FIR was registered at Wazirabad Police Station under Sections 353, 352 and 240 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, covering public mischief, intentional insult likely to disturb public peace and giving false information connected with an offence. The cause of the fish deaths has not been established.

Dead fish surfaced on Thursday near Sonia Vihar; cause unclear

Large numbers of dead fish were found floating in the Yamuna near Sonia Vihar on Thursday, and videos of the scene circulated on social media, raising questions about the river's water quality. The Irrigation and Flood Control Department wrote to Sonia Vihar police station on 12 November seeking an FIR, alleging unidentified people had dumped the fish to damage the government's image ahead of Chhath Puja; the Delhi Jal Board also complained about online claims that chemicals had been released into the river. No laboratory finding has been published, and chemical contamination has not been confirmed. Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Niharika Bhatt had earlier said police would register a case against unknown persons and investigate to identify those responsible.

Political row ahead of Chhath Puja

Chhath Puja falls on 15–16 November, when large numbers of devotees gather at Yamuna ghats to offer prayers, and the incident has turned into a political row. Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused the Aam Aadmi Party of hauling dead fish from outside and dumping them in the river to smear the administration; Water Minister Parvesh Verma also instructed his department to file an FIR. The AAP has in turn questioned the credibility of official air-quality readings, with both sides trading accusations over environmental issues. This is the second large-scale fish kill in Delhi's stretch of the Yamuna in 30 days; in October, hundreds of dead fish surfaced upstream at Burari near the Wazirabad barrage. Police said they were examining CCTV footage along the riverbank to investigate both the source of the fish and the origin of the online rumours.

(File photo: the Yamuna river in Delhi. Image: SPRF / Abhishek Singh.)