Bharathapuzha: Bank mapping, sand auditing to nail encroachers

‘It wIll be done as per the revenue records and Kerala Protection of River Banks Act 2001’

KOCHI: River encroachment and sand mining are not new in Kerala and the Bharathapuzha has always been a hot spot for the two illegal activities. Following large-scale complaints on encroachment, Kerala government has decided to conduct river bank mapping and sand auditing of Bharathapuzha.
A project for the same has been approved by Revenue Department, and Institute of Land and Disaster Management (ILDM) has been entrusted with the task to select an agency to do the bank mapping and sand auditing.

Senior revenue officers said the mapping and sand auditing would be done as per the records with the Revenue Department and following the provisions of Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act 2001.The ILDS is also looking at Science and Engineering Departments of Universities and aided colleges to undertake the project.

An Expression of Interest (EoI) has been invited from institutions, universities and NGOs having experience in land survey and data computation for the project to be conducted in Bharathapuzha, including Thoothapuzha and its tributaries.

Officers said the project will primarily focus on cadastral-level field survey comparing with clear survey/resurvey numbers of river banks and collection of information about river banks as per the standard date format prescribed by the Revenue Department. Apart from the mapping, the project will undertake river sand auditing and assessment of sand deposits by following the methodology developed by the Revenue Department and in tune with Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The River Management Centre of  ILDM will provide necessary technical support to the project.
As per a report by Centre for Development Studies (CDS) on ‘River Restoration in Kerala: Developing a Co-Evolutionary Framework and River Restoration Action Plan for Thiruvananthapuram city,” river bank mapping and sand assessment were completed for 16 rivers in two phases and it is progressing in some other rivers.

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