New scheme for protection of rivers in Kerala

The Hindu
Thiruvananthapuram,  
November 21, 2014

The Revenue Department is all set to launch a new scheme titled Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare (From River to River) for river protection. The scheme will be implemented in 527 acres along the Bharathapuzha between the three-km Kuttipuram-Tirunavaya stretch in Malappuram district and nine acres along the Achencoil river in Pathanamthitta.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said the scheme would be implemented by the State River Protection Committee under his chairmanship. The scheme would get an allocation of Rs.10 crore from the River Management Fund for implementing its objectives, which include not only river protection, but also preventing pollution and development and beautification of riverbanks through landscaping.

He said the success of the scheme hinged on the participation of the local population. Local river protection committees would be formed to nurture and protect the rivers and their banks, with the village officer of the selected areas as conveners. The survey of the selected stretches was on and would be completed within two weeks.

Inauguration

The formal inauguration of the scheme would be held in the first week of January.

The Land Revenue Commissioner would head the scheme at the State level. A State-level monitoring committee had been established. Mr. Prakash said the title for the campaign had been borrowed from Malayalam novelist C. Radhakrishnan’s work with his permission. He was confident that the local committees would be able to deliver, since these were envisaged on the lines of the forest protection committees. The project would go a long way in curbing encroachment of embankments and illegal sand-mining. He said the Revenue Department was fully empowered to implement the scheme along riverbanks since it had been lawfully charged with the management of the river protection fund.