COIMBATORE: In a shocking incident, a large number of fish were found floating dead at Nanjarayan Tank in Tirupur on Tuesday.

The villagers were in shock after seeing the fish floating in thousands and immediately informed the officials of the fisheries department.

Fearing a disease outbreak due to the heavy smell emanating from the dead fish, the villagers urged the administration to clear them from the water body.

The villagers suspect that the fish could have died due to the heavy discharge of effluents by textile units into the tank. However, officials of the fisheries department claimed that large-scale death of fish could be due to sudden depletion of oxygen in the tank due to rains after a prolonged dry spell.

“The small fishes may die in the initial stage and soon after that bigger fishes may die. Though this is a natural phenomenon, a study will be done to ascertain the cause of their death,” said an official.

The Nanjarayan tank spread over 440 acres has been declared a bird sanctuary. The Nanjarayan tank incident comes a day after a similar issue in the KRP dam in the Krishnagiri district.