When Mayur Kamath, a Vasai-based naturalist, visited an ancient temple in his locality, he saw the 100-year-old pond there had dried up because of the searing heat. The naturalist in him immediately thought of something alraming. The plight of the aquatic life in it was such that several of them were stuck in dried silt or even dying.

The pond was home to hundreds of fish. "On speaking to temple authorities, I learnt that this was for the first time that the pond has dried up," he said. Kamath and other animal lovers plunged into rescue mode.

On April 6, they launched the first operation and saved 1,000 local fishes. Eighty turtles were also saved. Out of this, 41 were Schedule I species like Indian Flapshell, Brown Roof Turtle, Spotted Indian Turtle and others.

There were also exotic turtles like Red-Eared Sliders and others kept as pets. They might have have been dumped in the waterbody by their owners, Kamath said.

Some 50 big fishes, including small sharks and others, mostly kept in aquarium, were also netted.

"Right from the start, we knew this was going to be a tough work. So we used nets to catch the fish while turtles were caught by hand. Lot of silt had accumulated in the pond over the years and it was drying up due to heat," said Kamath, who is an honorary wildlife warden for Mumbai and state wildlife board member.

He was joined by members of his NGO – Wildlife Images and Reflections – local fisherfolks, forest officials and members of Wildlife Conservation And Animal Welfare Association.

"During the second operation on Sunday, we rescued 44 more turtles and all the indigenous species have been released into the wilderness. All exotic ones have been kept separately as the law prohibits them from being released. Hence, they will be released in the same waters once the pond gets enough water in the monsoon," said Kamath. Both operations lasted 10 hours each.

Thane-based Vaibhav Vedak, a volunteer, said that the whole operation was extremely gruelling and risky. "We were in knee-deep muck with all kinds of trash, including broken bottles, clothes, plastic, nails and most of us got some injuries or the other. We had to pull out these fishes and turtles from the muck. Since we saved so many lives, all efforts were worth it," he said.

While the team rescued most of the aquatic life in the waterbody, they are even planning to take up another rescue operation soon. Volunteers are invited.

Rescue operation in Vasai

Rescue Operation 1-April 6Local fishes- 1,000Big fishes, including those kept in aquariums- 50Indian turtles- 41Exotic turtles- 39Rescue Operation 2 – April 17Indian turtles-32Exotic turtles-12