From correspondents in Jharkhand, India, 07:33 PM IST

Thousands of fish were found dead in a pond here Tuesday, an official in the state fishery department said.

He said the fish died after Ranchi witnessed heavy rainfall Sunday and Monday that filled the pond with contaminated water.

'It seems that the influx of contaminated water in the pond caused death of the fish. The oxygen level depleted after contaminated water entered the pond after rainfall,' said Nitish Priyadarshi, an environmentalist.

The Ranchi Municipal Corporation has now started cleaning the pond to save the fish still alive.

Every monsoon thousands of fish die in the pond - called Bada Talab (big pond).

'The rain water brings polluted things into the pond and depletes the oxygen level,' the fishery department official told IANS.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)