KOCHI: With its pristine backwaters and lush green forests, Kerala is hailed as a land blessed by nature. However, mindless deforestation and rapid urbanisation have contributed to the decline in monsoon rainfall, increase in temperature and extreme weather events like the devastating flood and drought. The feverish construction activity along the coastal areas and the high ranges has contributed to ecological imbalance, inviting more disasters.
Recently, the Public Works Department (PWD) handed over 17 acres located at Kakkanad in Kochi to the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd to establish a theme-based leisure and entertainment zone. The old NGO quarters premises have served as the green lungs of the city, absorbing air pollution, recharging groundwater resources and infusing life to an otherwise dry cityscape.
According to residents of the NGO quarters area, a stroll under the green canopy, enjoying the morning fog invigorates the body and provides a refreshing experience. “There are many rare trees and it offers a nesting space for many rare species of birds. The temperature here is usually 3-6 degrees Celsius lower than the city,” activist C R Neelakantan told Express.
The local residents have formed a committee to launch an agitation against the indiscriminate felling of trees and destruction of the rich biodiversity. They have formed a committee of experts to study and submit a report to the government on the need to conserve the flora and fauna of the area.
Meanwhile, at North Paravoor, a housewife has been waging a lone battle for the past five years to save a two-acre green refuge on her premises. The KSEB had forcefully acquired a piece of her land to construct a power transmission tower. Though KSEB had completed the work and drawn power lines, Meena Menon, the owner of the sacred grove, has approached the division bench of the High Court seeking justice. She also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking his intervention to save the sacred grove which her family has been protecting for generations.
On Tuesday, a group of environmentalists, including music director Bijibal, assembled at Santhivanam taking a pledge to protect the green refuge. On Wednesday, the activists will plant trees wearing a black band on their hands to protest the destruction of Santhivanam. “Santhivanam is a true sanctuary for fragmented and endangered coastal evergreen ecosystems and rare and threatened species of biota which they support and should be protected at any cost,” said ecologist and nature educator S Santhi.
524 casuarina trees to go under axe
The Alappuzha district administration has decided to axe 524 casuarina trees at Thottappally alleging they stopped the natural draining of water from the canal leading to the inundation of Kuttanad during floods.