CHENNAI: Even as the 45-day ban on fishing in the seas off Chennai came into effect on Thursday, cat fish in the Kapaleeswarar Temple tank have been dying in their thousands. Instead of the swish of whiskers, which glints almost like diamonds when sunlight falls on them, all now you see are bleached, white carcasses. Many of the dead fish were brought out of the tank by children using a rake or just their hands.

"I fished out around 60,000 of them in the past three days," said Siva. His friends, Manikandan, Seetha and Muniandi laughed and chorused, "We did not count anything except the ten-rupee notes the temple authorities gave us everyday." They are from Mankollai, Chemmencheri and Kannagi Nagar, and there are others of their age, too, who live near the temple. While the children's laughter reflected their blissful ignorance of the seriousness of the issue, shop owners in the four Mada streets, flower sellers near the temple and visitors expressed distress.

Perhaps for the first time, incense was seen burning outside the temple. It was the best way to ward off the stench. K Thiagarajan and T K Selvam, jewellers visiting the temple, paused outside to buy flowers, but others rushed inside, holding a handkerchief or cloth to their noses. "The smell arose the day after the Aruvapthimoovar festival. I make Rs 200 a day on average, but the past few days I have been throwing away flowers; no one wants to stop even for a moment to buy them," said Saroja, as fumes from the burning incense passed by her. Lakshmi Ammal, another flower seller, added that business had never been so bad during Chitirai'.

The dead fish were being buried in the sands near the tank, said residents, who are now worried about the environmental impact. "Firecrackers were burst from inside the tank during the float festival a couple of months ago. That could have caused the slow release of toxins," they pointed out. Many said that floating plastic packets could have been another reason for the water getting polluted.

Temple authorities, however, blamed the heat and overfeeding by visitors for the death of the fishes. Ecologists and residents are not convinced. "Cat fish are very sturdy, with huge appetites, and dwell at the bottom of the pond," said Ranjit Daniels, an ecologist. "It could be due to pollution related to the bursting of firecrackers; crackers contain toxins such as phosphorous."

Maintaining that the deaths were caused by heat, M Devendran, deputy commissioner, Kapaleeswarar Temple, said that the water was being dredged and that things would get back to normal soon.