KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — Dumping of fish waste from nearby areas is suspected after the discovery of hundreds of dead fish in a flood retention pond at Taman Desa Mewah in Semenyih.
The Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) said the pond has three inlets connecting residential and commercial areas in Taman Desa Mewah and Bandar Sunway Semenyih.
“It is likely that fish waste dumped into nearby drains entered the pond through its three inlets, causing the incident,” it told Bernama recently.
Water sampling tests showed a Water Quality Index of 72.2, placing it in Class III, with overall pond water quality remaining good and high dissolved oxygen levels. LUAS confirmed it will conduct ongoing monitoring to ensure the issue does not happen again.
Meanwhile, local activist Hamdan Abu noted that dead fish have been discovered in the flood retention pond three times since May.
“We spotted a few dead fish around 3pm to 4pm on August 3, but dismissed it as normal. But by the next morning, hundreds of fish were floating dead in the pond,” he told Bernama.
Hamdan had previously raised the issue with multiple authorities, including LUAS, the Irrigation and Drainage Department, the Environment Department, Indah Water Konsortium, and the National Water Services Commission.
The incident has raised safety fears among locals, given that the pond is widely used by anglers and stocked with fish such as tilapia.
He cautioned that because the pond drains into Sungai Semenyih, any contamination could pose a much broader threat to the local water supply.
