NAGERCOIL: The use of heavy machinery like earthmovers for digging and delineating land covered by rubber plantations poses a grave threat to the productivity of the land, according to environmentalists.
They fear deterioration of the land as the enriched humus top soil found along the water spread in the area adjacent to Perunchani Dam would be depleted.
As many as five earthmovers were spotted digging the area at coup no. 4 at Keeriparai near the dam. The land, which comprises six coups, was leased out to Arasu Rubber Corporation by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department of the Kanyakumari division.
The Rubber Corporation is entitled to engage only manual labourers for digging the land. The earthmovers, which scoop out the fertile top layer of humus soil, not only spoil the fertility of the soil but also inadvertently lead to the filling up of the frequently desilted dam.
According to the National Forest Policy, 1988, checking soil erosion and denudation in the catchment areas of rivers, lakes, reservoirs in the interest of soil and water conservation, for mitigating floods and droughts is indispensable.
But the rubber corporation seems to have flouted all environmental norms by engaging the earthmovers.
A Nagercoil–based environmentalist says, “Soil conservation is very important in the country because it takes nature almost 600 to 1,000 years to build 2.5 cm of top soil. But this very top soil can get displaced in a year due to misuse leading to the deterioration of productivity of the land.” Top soil removal is strictly prohibited in reserve forest areas. The use of earthmoving equipment can cause serious damage to the environment, including soil erosion, damage to natural elements and flora and fauna. Moreover, the loud noise made by the earthmovers, which is above the acceptable decibel level would make it difficult for the animals to move around freely, he pointed out.