Thousands of fish have been found dead in the world famous Dal lake in Srinagar, with experts saying that the mass death has taken place due to thermal stratification.

The residents in peripheries of Dal lake were stunned to see thousands of dead fish floating on the surface of the water body. “We found dead fish in large numbers at different places in the water-body. A foul odour is emanating near a spring in the lake,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a local resident.

Officials from Fisheries department said that this has happened due to thermal stratification-a change in the temperature at different depths in the lake.

Feroz Ahmad Bhat, Dean, Faculty of Fisheries at SKUAST-K said the fish could have died due to low concentration of oxygen in the lake.

“The pollution and increase of weeds decreases concentration of oxygen in a lake,” he said, adding that it has also happened in Nigeen Lake in the past as well.