CHENNAI : Forty-year-old P Kadrivan, a fourth generation traditional fisherman from Andikuppam, depends on Pulicat lake for his livelihood. Every afternoon, he takes his motorised boat and goes fishing in the backwaters and returns next day, in the morning with the catch. On a good day, he makes `1,000, but off-late his earnings have plummeted considerably. The reason: Pulicat bar mouth, which facilitates constant inflow of sea water during high tide aiding fisheries production, is now choked.
Kadrivan said prawn and mullet fish are the major species found in the lake, but their numbers have drastically fallen. “This is peak fishing season and ideally we should hit a jackpot. But because the bar mouth is closed, we are returning empty handed,” he said.
His anguish is shared by close to 30,000 fishermen living in 52 hamlets located around the Pulicat lake. When Express visited the bar mouth, taking a one-hour boat ride from Andikuppam village, the fishing vessels were struggling to venture into the sea. Many had to physically tow the boats. Silt was deposited to such an extent that water depth had reduced to under one metre and the lake bed was clearly visible. “We are able at least tow the boat because its high tide. During low tide, the mouth will be completely closed,” Munuswamy, another fishermen.
Two types of fishermen operate in the area. While majority are backwater fishermen, who just fish within the Pulicat lake, and there are others who go into the sea. For both, an open bar mouth is crucial.
To solve this recurring problem, the state fisheries department has come-up with an ‘easy’ solution to permanently stabilise the Pulicat bar mouth - constructing two training walls on either side of the mouth, which will create an opening of about 300 metres. It also proposes to dredge the mouth to a depth of 3 metres, facilitating free flow of fishing vessels into sea.
Though the project has been welcomed by fishermen, environmental experts say the government is meddling with nature and this would lead to massive seawater ingression, resulting in ecological degradation of Pulicat lake. “No doubt the biodiversity in this ecosystem has changed quantitatively and qualitatively in the recent years, due to natural processes like reduction in depth and shrinkage of Pulicat lake. The anthropogenic influences like overexploitation of resources and land use changes have influenced the lake ecosystem. However, laying groynes or training walls is not advisable, rather the government can help the fishermen with periodical dredging,” said ecologist D Narasimhan of Madras Christian College, who did a research on Pulicat.
A senior scientist with Central Marine Research Institute (CMRI) said the government’s intentions may be noble, but it should not risk ‘overdoing’ things that may tomorrow cause irreparable damage to a fragile Pulicat ecosystem. However, G Velan, assistant director of fisheries, Ponneri, said the project was conceived after detailed topographical and mathematical survey carried out by Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT-Madras. “IIT-Madras officials along with fisheries department officials visited the coastal stretch and investigated the site conditions.
A stakeholder meeting was also held to understand the requirements of fishermen community. Construction of training walls will give access to fishermen in all seasons of the year,” he said in the Form 1 submitted to Union Environment Ministry.
Defending the project, SA Sannasiraj, head, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT-Madras, told Express that Pulicat is a unique ecosystem. “It’s bar mouth keeps oscillating from north to south and vice versa during the course of seasons. At present, for almost eight months in a year, fishermen are complaining of bar mouth closure. So, we want to keep a portion of bar mouth open round the year for fishing vessels to move, without impacting the natural sand drift movement,” he said.
No Centre nod
The proposal came up for deliberation before Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for projects related to Coastal Regulation Zone held on October 15. But the committee decided to drop the proposal on environmental grounds. The committee said: “The project in all likelihood may alter the entire flow regime of the Pulicat lake and the ecological consequence of opening the mouth, leading to massive sea water ingression, may change the entire regime of the lake. Since capital dredging is involved, the project entails environmental clearance under EIA Notification, 2006, in addition to CRZ Clearance and therefore the CRZ Committee has no jurisdiction,” it said.
The Committee further noted that Pulicat lake is a national as well as internationally important wetland (identified as an Important Bird Area by Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International), hosting large congregations of birds and any unscientific interventions like opening of the mouth may have severe impact on the lagoon’s ecology. In the absence of a detailed marine EIA study the proposal is premature for consideration either by the state or the ministry.
The Committee finally agreed that the “project proponent may approach the concerned sector with upfront details, requisite documents and procedural requirements under the provisions of the EIA Notification, 2006.” Accordingly, the proposal has been dropped for now.