Clay dumping maims Ashtamudi Lake

By Ignatius Pereira

KOLLAM, DEC. 18. If the renowned octopus-shaped Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam owes its name to its eight creeks, often described as the eight (ashta) locks of hair (mudi), the lake has already lost one of its important creeks thereby compelling one to wonder whether the lake would have to be soon rechristened "Sapthamudi" or the lake with seven locks of hair.

The loss of the creek, most shockingly, comes at a time when the lake was being promoted as one of the important tourism destinations of the nation for providing some of the most picturesque backwater locations under the sun.

The portion of the lake which has been completely destroyed is the famous Kanjiracode creek on the south-east end of the lake, thanks to the dumping of waste earth and clay into the lake by the State Government-owned PSU, The Kerala Ceramics Limited (KCL), Kundara.

The Kanjiracode creek, it has to be noted, was one of the major transporting points for various industrial products. The Pallikadavu wharf used to be one of the busiest mini ports in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom and some of the elders in the area still remember huge "Kettuvalloms" (house boats) engaged in transporting large quantities of goods which included raw cashew from Africa and coir.

Already, more than 1 k.m. of the creek, comprising a spread of at least 25 to 30 hectares, has been lost. As per official records, the part of the creek marked survey number 407 is no more a water mass but a hillock.

The eastern bank of the creek is blessed with a bounty of fine China clay deposits. The clay mined from here is not only used by crockery industry but also by cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

The mining rights are solely enjoyed by the KCL. The company was established during C.P. Ramaswamy Iyengar's tenure as the Diwan of Travancore. During those days the mined clay was transported away.

However, of late, only a portion of the clay mined was being utilised. The rest was being dumped on the banks of the creek and the dumping has resulted in the lake losing the creek.

The once beautiful portion of the lake is today dotted with dumped clay and the continuing dumping was gnawing away the lake.

Alarmed at the danger posed by the dumping of clay,

the local residents formed a Pollution Control and Prevention Joint Action Committee. The committee launched its first agitation against the KCL in 1980. The action committee largely comprised those from the fishing community and coir workers of the area.

However, lack of money power and influence soon threw a wet blanket over the agitation. Yet, with their undying spirit to save the creek, they continue to fight the KCL through litigations.

Says the general secretary of the committee, Mr. Emmanuel Vazhavila, "the fight will continue till the lake is restored to its original shape."

It is the coir workers and the fishermen of the area who are worst affected since the destruction has doomed their means livelihood.

The waters of the Kanjiracode creek is famous for its "karimeen" (pearl spot) and "kanambu" (mullet) fish varieties. The destruction of the creek had sound the death knell for the fishermen selling "karimeen" for a livelihood.

Not so long ago, at least 400 families in the area lived off selling "karimeen". With no lake at Kanjiracode, the fishermen in the area were forced to migrate to Paravur and Varkala in the south and some of them even moved up north to Kannur.

The same misfortune befell those in the area who depended upon coir for a livelihood. Since there was no lake to soak husks, the Kanjiracode coir industry became extinct and the coir workers there had to look elsewhere for a living.

Mr. Emmanuel said that unscientific mining technique resorted to by the KCL was one of the prime causes for the drying up of the creek.

The KCL mined clay from a depth of 100 ft. from the surface and hence the upper layers had to be removed for obtaining the clay.

It was this waste earth from a spread of over five hectares which was being dumped into the lake. The dumping of the waste earth had also resulted in lake bed upheavals to such an extent that the lake bed had become alarmingly shallow even in distant locations.

Moreover, vast areas of the remaining portion of the Kanjiracode creek have become stagnant with no tides.

Adding to the woes was the discharge of chlorine-treated clay into the lake polluting it.

The four streams which acted as tributaries to the Ashtamudi at Kanjiracode during the monsoon has been choked by the waste earth and clay dumps.

In fact, the confluence of these streams and the lake today was a mere puddle providing a fine breeding ground for mosquitoes.

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Section  : Southern States
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