Gandigudem fishermen are still waiting for the `1,03,28,200 promised to them as compensation by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board(TSPCB). The amount was promised after lakhs of fish were killed in the lake due to pollution caused by pharma companies located in Industrial Development Area (IDA) of Kazipally. The massive death of fish, which happened over 4-5 days in October, has robbed the fishermen of their livelihood. The toxic lake is not habitated by any sort of fish anymore. About 350 fishermen and their families were dependent on the catch from Gandigudem lake for a living. Close to three lakh fishlings were released in the Gandigudem lake this year. There is not a single fish left now, says C Janardhan, President of Gandigudem Fishermen Cooperative Society. All we are doing now is catching marble fish (a variety of fish), which have survived the accident, and killing them as they kill all other commercial fish species. Anjaneyulu, another fisherman at Gandigudem, said, The compensation money is not a big amount compared to the losses we are suffering now. But if we get it, we can at least use it to buy fishlings and release them in the lake. Janardhan says the government should buy fishling and introduce them in the lake. But, they are concerned if that would work as polluted water and effluents from the pharma companies continue to flow into the lake. The water is still polluted, says Janardhan. Contaminated water continues to flow even now into the lake from Kazipally. We are skeptical of releasing fish again into the lake fearing the same fate like last month. All efforts will prove futile if the pollution control board does not close down the tank in Kazipally. If the lake is protected from pollution and fish are allowed to propagate, our future generations can survive even for the next even 100 years. TSPCB directed the industries long back to pay the compensation money, which they did and the cheque was submitted to the Sangareddy District Collector as well, said a pollution control board official. From there the money is supposed to go to fisheries department and should be given to the fishermen cooperative society in Gandigudem.