Delhi’s Irrigation and Flood Control Department has asked the Sonia Vihar police station to register an FIR after dead fish were found in the Yamuna near the Wazirabad bridge, while alleging that unidentified people may have dumped the fish to damage the government’s image ahead of Chhath.
The department wrote to the station house officer seeking police action in the matter. The letter, as reported by Jagran, attributes the alleged act to unknown persons and links it to an attempt to create negative publicity for the Delhi government before the festival. The report does not establish who placed the fish in the river or what caused their deaths.
The dead fish were reportedly found on Thursday near the Wazirabad bridge in the Sonia Vihar area. A video showing several fish floating dead in the river circulated on social media, bringing renewed attention to the condition of the Yamuna and the quality of its water.
The incident has raised a water-quality concern because the fish were found in a stretch of the river that is also being used for a new public-facing transport initiative. An electric cruise service began in the same area two days before the fish deaths were reported. The timing has led to fresh discussion about the river’s condition, although the supplied report does not provide a water-test result or an official finding establishing a connection between the cruise service and the deaths.
The department’s request places the immediate response with the local police. The Sonia Vihar station house officer may take action on the basis of the letter, according to the report. Any FIR or subsequent investigation would need to establish whether the fish were introduced into the river, identify those responsible if that occurred, and determine whether an environmental factor contributed to their deaths.
The episode also highlights the difficulty of assessing the Yamuna through isolated visual evidence. A viral video can show the presence of dead fish, but it cannot by itself determine the cause, the extent of the incident or whether the river’s water quality changed at that location. The report contains no independent laboratory assessment, inspection finding or statement from a pollution-control authority.
For residents and visitors using the Sonia Vihar riverfront, the immediate public-interest question is therefore both administrative and environmental: whether the police complaint will be followed by a documented investigation and whether the relevant agencies will publish evidence on the condition of the water. The next reported step is action by the Sonia Vihar police station on the department’s FIR request.
