Hundreds of dead fish floated to the surface of Dhok Talian Dam in Chakwal, prompting the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to take notice of the incident and direct fisheries department officials to investigate the matter.
The dam administration attributed the deaths to extreme heat. Officials mentioned that chemical treatment is being added to the water to protect the fish that survived, while carcasses are being cleared from the site.
The dead fish caused a strong stench to spread through the area, affecting the experience of visitors who had arrived for recreation. A number of them cut their visit short, leaving the area without spending time at the dam as they had originally planned.
Mass fish deaths at reservoirs are not new to Punjab or the wider region. A similar die-off resurfaced in July 2024, when the reservoir’s water level dropped sharply and dead fish were again found along its banks. Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) sent an inspection team to collect water samples from multiple points around the dam and test indicators such as dissolved oxygen, pH and turbidity.
Islamabad’s Rawal Dam has faced the same problem on a near annual basis. In 2017, thousands of fish died in the dam and police registered an FIR [First Information Report] after residents alleged that the water had been deliberately poisoned to settle personal scores.
The pattern continued into October 2025, when thousands more fish were found dead in Rawal Dam, with reports at the time drawing a comparison to the earlier contamination-linked incident.
