THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The long-pending demand to conserve and protect the Vellayani lake -- the second largest freshwater lake in the state -- is finally set to become a reality with the High Court directing the State Wetland Authority of Kerala (SWAK) to complete the demarcation of the boundaries of the lake’s wetland within three months.
Besides, after years of impasse, the state government has launched a Rs 96-crore project to revive the lake which is the only source of drinking water for Kalliyoor, Venganoor, Vizhinjam and Kovalam areas in the state capital. With the Vizhinjam port all set to become fully operational, the conservation of Vellayani lake is crucial as it is the main source of water for the port operations.
A SWAK official said the demarcation of the lake’s boundary has been done in association with the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSREC).
“We have placed the brief for approval from the technical committee and we will be notifying the draft document in the gazette soon, after consultation with the local body,” the source said.
The High Court recently came out with such a directive in connection with a case filed by the Kalliyoor panchayat against the granting of building permit renewal for a private party.
Advocate R Gopan, who fought the case for the panchayat, said the petition was moved challenging the directive of the tribunal.
“The Vellayani lake is yet to be notified as a wetland and hence the tribunal ordered the local body to give the permit, and we challenged it in the HC. As per the settlement register of 1924, the lake has an area of around 750 hectares. Now the lake has shrunk to almost nothing and this order could be crucial for the protection of what is left of the lake,” Gopan said.
The HC has asked the SWAK to determine the boundaries of the lake and demarcate the 50-metre buffer zone to ensure the protection of the lake.
According to the SWAK report, the Vellayani lake has a wetland spanning over 268.68 hectares. It is learnt that the lake is included in a list of 40 wetlands in the state that are in the process of being notified under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
The area of the lake has shrunk dramatically with widespread encroachment affecting the ecosystem adversely.
The first phase of the Vellayani lake conservation project, granted administrative sanction back in 2021, had taken off recently.
“The protection and conservation of the lake is crucial. Because of silt accumulation, we are unable to ensure a continuous supply of water to the panchayat areas. Water is supplied only twice a week. Once we remove the silt and clean up the reservoir, the storage capacity will go up and we will be able to supply water every day,” Kalliyoor panchayat president M Somasekharan Nair said.