Veli breakwater: people fear eco damage

People in the coastal areas of the city are stepping up pressure on the government to ensure adequate safeguards in the construction of a breakwater at the Veli estuary to control flooding in the city.

The Rs.12-crore project, funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, is to be implemented by the Harbour Engineering Department.

The proposal involves the construction of two breakwaters at Veli to prevent the formation of the sandbar at the estuary and keep the river mouth open so as to ensure continuous discharge into the sea. The annual sand bar formation at the river mouth prevents the free flow of stormwater into the sea and leads to water stagnation in the lake that is responsible for the pollution of the water and flooding and waterlogging in the upstream areas up to Thampanoor in the city.

However, the Veli Vikasana Janakeeya Karma Samithi, a local pressure group, fears that implementing the project without adequate safeguards could have disastrous consequences on the environment and the livelihood of the local people.

M. Babu, general convener of the Samithi, says both the Veli and the Akkulam lakes and their feeder canals are choked with tonnes of garbage, toxic waste, and waste water from hospitals, industrial units, commercial establishments, and houses. “Large parts of the water bodies are covered by a thick mass of water weeds and algae. Depletion of oxygen level in the water has led to mass mortality of fish on several occasions, adding to the pollution.”

“The pipe carrying effluents from Travancore Titanium Products Ltd. factory at Kochuveli empties into the sea near the mouth of the estuary. Large quantities of sulphuric acid and other effluents are discharged into the near-shore areas off Kochuveli, Valiaveli, Vettukad, and Kannanthura, having an impact on the fish wealth. Tidal action carries the pollutants up to Kovalam and Perumathura.”

POLLUTION

The Samithi fears that the construction of breakwaters at the mouth of Veli Lake would push the waste materials from Akkulam Lake, the Parvathy Puthanar, Amayizhanjan and Chakka canals, and the Karamana and the Killi rivers directly into the sea. This, it feels, runs the risk of being seen as an easy waste disposal method.

“The near-shore pollution has the potential to drive away fish shoals and deprive traditional fishermen of their livelihood. Also, the solid waste washed out to sea will be deposited on the beaches during high tide making them unfit for tourism.”

In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, the Samithi proposed stern action against the polluters discharging toxic waste into the waterbodies. It also suggested establishment of nets to capture water weeds and plants.

Last September, the Ministry of Environment and Forests had written to the Harbour Engineering Department, prescribing additional terms of reference for the project and a public hearing to be conducted for the project under the provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. It also demanded the preparation of a detailed environmental management plan. The terms of reference insisted that the project did not have an impact on the fishing activities in the area.

Subsequently, the State department sought an exemption from the public hearing process on the grounds that no serious environmental issues were involved.

Source:The Hindu July 25, 2011

Solution to man-animal conflict in Wayanad Sanctuary awaits government initiative

Man-animal conflict is difficult to resolve in conditions existing in Kerala. However, the government is sitting on a proposal which offers a clean solution to the problem in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.

About 10000 people living in pockets inside the Sanctuary are willing to relocate from the conflict zone, leaving the land to the animals. The Central government has already sanctioned Rs. 80 crore for resettlement of nearly one third of the population. However, only 4.5 crore had been released so far.

As per a report of Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), there are 110 settlements having 2613 families in the Sanctuary. Besides, there are 264 families without proper land records. Frequent attacks by wild animals occur in these settlements and settlers and the farmers often retaliate. More than 100 persons have died in attacks by wild animals over the years. Much crop had also been damaged. The elephant deaths in the region are more than the normal because of retaliatory attacks by the people.

The Forest and Wildlife Department spends sizeable sums in building elephant proof trenches, boundary walls and solar power fencing and paying compensation to the victims. The High Court had directed the government to devise a scheme for resettlement of the trapped people in the sanctuary as back as in 1986.

However, action from the part of the government was wanting despite the willingness of the people to relocate. The Central government’s scheme provides for cash compensation of Rs. 10 lakh to each of the families willing to relocate, irrespective of their land holdings. The amount actually does not reflect the conditions in Kerala where the value of land outside the sanctuary going up higher and higher. Yet, the families have expressed willingness to move out.

The KFRI study had deemed 2485 families in 1385 houses suitable for relocation. This would make about 1700 acres available for reversion to forests. The regeneration of forests could be of major gain for the sanctuary and Cauvery basin.

Source: The Hindu 18-07-2011

Survey finds an alarming decline in population of vultures

A field survey on the vulture population in the wildlife sanctuaries in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and adjacent sanctuaries, conducted by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), has found that the number of these bird species is declining at an alarming rate in the region. The survey attributes the sharp decline to the availability of a banned painkiller given to domestic cattle. Feeding on the carcasses of cattle to which the drug is administered turns fatal for the bird species.

A five-member team recently surveyed the region, reportedly the only existing habitat of different species of vulture in South India. The region includes the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and the Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, and the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and the Rajiv Gandhi National Park at Nagarhole in Karnataka.

C. Sasikumar, ornithologist and chief investigator of the team, told The Hindu that the population of oriental white-backed vultures (Gyps bengalensis) in the whole area could be 100 to 150 as against the 300 sighted in the Mudumalai sanctuary alone during a survey conducted by the BHNS in 1992. The region was a good habitat of the oriental white-backed vulture, red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), and the Indian long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), and a good number of these species were recorded in the area, according to a survey report of the society in 1992. As many as 22 red-headed vultures and one Indian long-billed vulture had been recorded during that survey in the Mudumalai sanctuary alone. However, the recent survey reveals that the population of these species has dwindled considerably. The number of red-headed vulture could be nearly 20 and the Indian long-billed vulture is extremely rare in the entire region now, Mr. Sasikumar says.
Once common

Red-headed and the white-backed vultures were common in Kerala during the 1930s as recorded in the Travancore Bird Survey by Salim Ali, says C.K. Vishnudas, a member of the team. “But we could not sight a single bird of the species in the State, except in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, during a bird survey organised by the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department a few months ago,” he says.

It was established in 2004 that diclofenac, (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, used widely as a painkiller in livestock in the Indian subcontinent) was fatal for the vulture. Hence, the Union government had banned the use and production of veterinary diclofenac in May 2006. Vultures feed mainly on the carcasses of wild ungulates and as long as they remain within the forested area, they are safe from contaminated food. But the tribal villages within and around these protected areas have a very large cattle population and vultures consume the carcasses of these domestic animals. The availability of diclofenac at drug stores in the townships adjacent to the sanctuaries such as Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu and Gundlupet in Karnataka poses a great threat to the existing vulture population, Mr. Sasikumar says.

The oriental white-backed vulture moves up to 226 km a day during foraging and the home range of the species can be very large, in some cases several thousand square kilometres, he adds. This underlines the importance of creating a diclofenac-free environment for the vultures to be safe, he says.
Awareness

A study organised by voluntary organisations in the region a few months ago found that most of the stakeholders, including villagers, cattle owners, veterinary experts, and drug store owners, were unaware of the ban on diclofenac or its effect on vultures, Mr. Sasikumar says.

“This is a very dangerous situation as far as vultures are concerned, and if not controlled immediately, the remaining vulture population here will be extinct soon,” he says.

A regular monitoring programme is needed to protect the surviving populations in the area, he adds.

Source: The Hindu 18-07-2011

Scientists complete potato genome sequencing

Beijing:A consortium of scientists led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has finished sequencing the genetic code of the potato.

The six-year study carried out by the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium (PGSC), comprising 97 experts from 14 nations, revealed that a potato contains about 39,000 genes.

Qu Dongyu, an expert with the Crop Science Society of China, said that the study helped discover genes responsible for insect resistance and growth of potatoes.

The sequencing will enable experts to create new varieties of potatoes that are high in yield, quality and more resistant to insects and diseases, Xinhua quoted Qu as saying.
Huang Sanwen, an expert with CAAS, added that it would also help accelerate the breeding process of new seeds from 12 years to about five years.

China is the world's top potato grower, with nearly six million hectares of land under its plantation annually.

Source; Decan Herald, 16-07-2011