The Hindu : Kerala News : Water lily-rich Manimala an `alarming sign'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 02, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Water lily-rich Manimala an `alarming sign'

By Our Staff Reporter

Mining in the floodplains of the Manimala has created a muddy substratum, making it conducive to the growth of water lilies. A view of the river near Thondara bridge on MC Road at Kuttoor, near Thiruvalla.

PATHANAMTHITTA, MARCH 1. Water lilies flourish on the riverbed of the Manimala river, especially in its downstream reaches of Vallamkulam, Kuttoor, Thengeli and Venpala, indicating the degradation of the river system.

There has been a rampant growth of water lilies in the river a few metres upstream of Thondara bridge on MC Road at Kuttoor for the past two years and the Water Resources Ministry is yet to study its impact on the river system despite repeated pleas from various eco-groups in the area.

Studies conducted by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) in the Manimala have found that the riverbed has gone down by five to six metres during the past two decades owing to indiscriminate sand-mining. Mining in the floodplain areas of the river has created a muddy substratum, making it conducive to the growth of water lilies.

According to Thomas P. Thomas, environmentalist and Botany professor in Kozhencherry St. Thomas College, water lilies grow in stagnant water and its abundant growth in the Manimala is a clear indication of the slow death of the river system.

Dr. Thomas says that heavy siltation in the deep cavities formed on the riverbed because of sand-mining has become common along the river course for the past several years. Pit-capturing is on the rise in the downstream reaches of the river and this coupled with the unscientific sand collection has altered the hydrodynamics of the river system.

The Manimalayar Samrakshana Samiti (MSS) and the Pampa-Varattar Samrakshana Samiti (PVSS) have demanded immediate intervention of the Water Resources Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, to save the river.

The MSS general secretary, V.N. Gopinatha Pillai, and the PVSS president, Ajith Prasad, say that it is high time the Government machinery was mobilised to conserve the river system. The MSS has decided to seek judicial intervention if the authorities continue their lackadaisical attitude.

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