CHENNAI: The State fisheries department has sought wildlife clearance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) to build training walls and groynes inside Pulicat Wildlife Sanctuary. The project is aimed at stabilising the Pulicat bar mouth to enable continuous access for fishermen’s vessels in all seasons.
“Since the project is located at Pulicat village and falls within Pulicat bird sanctuary, it attracts NBWL clearance,”said M Murugesan, executive engineer of Fishing Harbour Project Division. The project has been a long-pending demand of over 35,000 fishers inhabiting 60 villages in both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The State Fisheries Department intends to permanently stabilise the lake’s bar mouth by putting up hard structures. GS Sameeran, Director of Fisheries, told Express that under the project two training walls measuring 160 metres and 150 metres will be built on either side of the bar mouth. Besides, two short groynes of 50 metres in length will be constructed on the northern side to minimise the resulting sea erosion.
The official said due to sediment transport, the location of the bar mouth often migrates, sometimes also closing, putting fishermen to severe hardship. “Fishermen are facing difficulties to go to the sea from Pulicat for fishing activity. Once the project is completed, the fishermen can navigate into Bay of Bengal throughout the year,” Sameeran said and added that the work would commence after the monsoon.
However, environmentalists fear the training walls and groynes would destabilise the coast, causing irreversible damage. In 2018, the environment ministry had objected to the project saying it would alter the entire flow regime of the Pulicat lake and may change the characteristics of the lake due to sea water ingression.
The ministry further noted that Pulicat lake is a national as well as internationally important wetland and any unscientific interventions may have severe impacts on the lagoon ecology. Responding to the criticism, Sameeran said a detailed environment impact assessment study was done and submitted to the ministry for consideration.
“We need to strike a balance between the welfare of people and the environment. In fact, because of frequent closure of the bar mouth, siltation of the lake is happening, reducing the depth of the lake.”
Problems
■ The bar-mouth is completely choked making it difficult for fishing vessels to enter the sea
■ Fishemen up-in-arms against the government for not carrying out periodic dredging Concerns
■ Having 300 metres of bar mouth open in all seasons will bring an excessive amount of seawater into the lake, which may do more harm than good
■ Detailed EIA study is missing Cost of the project: Rs 27 crore