‘We are heading for a disaster’

K.A. Martin

KOCHI,  
The Hindu, February 2, 2015 
The deteriorating condition of the Vembanad backwater system along with other Ramsar sites in the State are in focus as activists get together on Monday to observe World Wetlands Day, recalling the adoption of the wetlands convention in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

Clams, a large number of fish species and the famed scampi are among the best known to have succumbed to pressure of human intervention and the devastating pace of shrinkage of the backwaters.

“We are heading for a disaster,” says K.G. Padmakumar, former associate director of research, Regional Agricultural Research Station. He was referring to issues like climate change, global warming and frequent flooding of Kuttanad as he raised the question why nobody was doing anything for the Lake. Nothing has been done for conservation of biodiversity in the backwaters or more particularly for the celebrated species of scampi. Once there was a talk about a Vembanad Development Authority. There are a lot of stakeholders but no owners for the backwaters, he said.

Activists and fishermen cite studies to claim that the Vembanad lake system has shrunk from 42,000 hectares to less than 13,000 hectares. Together with the lake are disappearing fish species central to Kerala’s food security, says Charles George, State president of Matsya Thozhilali Aikyavedi, a forum representing fish workers.

The Vembanad Lake, south of the Thannermukkam barrage, has turned into an “aqua desert”, affecting the livelihoods of those active in inland fisheries. The Vembanad Lake is virtually the lifeline for about a lakh fishermen in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.

A fisheries scientist who studied clam fisheries in the Vembanad extensively says that production had fallen to about 40,000 tonnes a year from the level of about 75,000 tonnes 10 years ago.