Heavy siltation in the Vembanad lake system, poor flow of water, formation of small islands and rampant pollution, aided by widespread encroachment, have hit thousands of fishermen in Ernakulam and Alappuzha engaged in inland fisheries.
“The situation is such that fishermen have to wade through, in some locations nearly knee-deep slush and sediments, to bring even low-draft traditional canoes ashore. Many temporary fish landing centres along the lakefront have been closed due to sedimentation,” said K.P. Vijayakumar, a fisherman in Kumbalam, an island near Kochi. He said thousands of fishermen were out of regular fishing work. Depletion in fish stocks triggering poor catch and depleting shell fish resources have added to their burden.
The situation is even worse closer to Kochi where new building projects have gone on unhindered. Both sides of the BOT bridge at Thoppumpady and sides of the Kannakaatu bridge near Palluruthy are glaring examples of siltation in the backwaters.
The Vembanad wetland system is among the largest brackish waterbodies in the country. It is a source of livelihood for about eight million people in Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam districts. Human intervention and climate factors had combined to shrink the size of the backwater system while pollution had delivered a body blow even as there was no revival programme in place, said Charles George of Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedhi, a group of independent traditional fishermen.
V.J. Paul, a fisherman in Aroor near Kochi, said reclamation had been taking place unhindered. Authorities had turned a blind eye to industrial units in Alappuzha district encroaching the backwaters. Plastic dumping had resulted in fish resources being shrunk as never before, he said on Wednesday. Mr. George called for immediate fixing of the boundary of the backwaters, stopping encroachment and a State-wide programme to protect the backwater system. Several studies have pointed to the degraded condition of the Vembanad. But nothing has been done. On the south end of the lake system, the water was polluted by chemicals and pesticide residue while closer to the Kochi urban centre plastic and other urban waste was choking the life out of the system, he added.
A study by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies said the water retention capacity of the lake system stood at 85.3%, reduced from 2,617.5 million cubic metres in 1990 to 384.66 MCM in 2020. The decline has been attributed to reduction in area extent (43.5%) from 365 sq.km in 1900 to 206.30 sq. km now. The depth shrinkage too is alarming from the average 8.5-m depth in 1930s to the present average of 1.8 m.