Instead, piles of dead fish greeted the eyes. As did nature's scavengers dogs and crows at work, picking the rotting flesh off the bones. The stink was enough to send the senses reeling.

On the last day of the Swachha Gujarat, Swastha Gujarat campaign, the VMC was obviously too busy to send many workers to clean up Hathi talav, where an estimated 10 to 12 tonnes of fish died late last week. The few safai workers who did come did a half-hearted job; the half-burnt piles of fish on the banks, and the scores more still floating in the talav told their own story.

Fakira Vohra, who had a contract to breed fish in the talav, however, said the VMC staff had removed eight to 10 kgs of fish with the help of locals on Wednesday. ``We've suffered losses of at least Rs 15,000'', he added.

While the loss for Vohra is monetary, Sofia Shaikh and Shamim Pathan, local residents, are disgusted with the VMC's lethargy. ``Living here is particularly impossible when there is a wind, in the early mornings and late nights'', says Pathan.

Meanwhile, tests at the VMC's Public Health Laboratory revealed that the massacre had not been caused by a seasonal depletion in the dissolved oxygen levels. Public Analyst Subhashchandra Shah told Express Newsline that the dissolved oxygen level was 8 parts per million, the ideal level.

So now the needle of suspicion points to the sewage, which locals admit, is released into the pond. But, as resident Bannumiya Pathan said, ``We have no alternative. We have been demanding connections for so long.''

And the needle again stops at the VMC.