SINGAPORE - The Housing Board is looking into the cause of a receding disused fishing spot in Yishun, which led to the death of some fish, as it is the first time this has occurred since the board took over management of the area in July 2023.

HDB said it was alerted to the “unusually low water level” in the pond on Feb 2.

“We have since removed the dead fishes and have started moving the remaining live fishes to a smaller holding pond at the same site. As this was the first time that the water level had seen such a significant drop, HDB is looking into the cause,” HDB told The Straits Times.

By the end of February, the fish will be relocated to a commercial farm, which HDB said it has found.

Residents and public transport users had complained about the foul smell from nearly a hundred dead fish in the receding pond at 81 Lorong Chencharu as early as last week.

When ST visited the site on Feb 5, the stench from the fish carcasses wafted to a nearby bus stop about 20m away.

When ST revisited the spot on Feb 6, all the dead fish were gone and the water in the pond had been topped up. However, the foul smell could still be detected at the bus stop. More than 20 black trash bags, believed to contain dead fish cleared from the pond, were found next to the pond.

The once-popular fishing pond – operated by Fishing Paradise in what used to be Orto leisure park – was taken over by HDB for soil investigation and survey works in July 2023. The 5.15ha leisure park – located within a plot of 70ha of land – is zoned for residential use.

Orto relocated to the western part of Singapore after the expiration of its tenancy on June 30, 2023.

“Since then, HDB has been maintaining the site, including the pond and its fishes which have been retained to prevent mosquito breeding, pending the commencement of site clearance and earthworks in the first quarter of 2024,” said HDB.

Its contractor would fill up the pond whenever the water level in the pond fell below the usual level as part of the site maintenance, which is typically done every two days.

The water level was last checked by HDB’s contractor on Jan 31.

Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) group director Jessica Kwok said AVS has been alerted to the case and is looking into the matter.