Question: Villagers living in a heavily forested region surrounding a remote district in Punjab decided to reduce air pollution in their village. In the autumn season, after the leaves had fallen from the trees, the villagers blew all of the dead leaves into the village pond. About 8 months later, they noticed a large number of dead fish in the pond. What is the most likely cause of the fish kill?

Options:

A) the dead leaves released poisons that killed the fish.

B) the decomposing leaves depleted the levels of oxygen

C) bacteria fed on the leaves and then the bacteria infected the fish.

D) carbon dioxide from the decaying leaves reached toxic levels and killed the fish.