Kerala - Kannur   

Kattampally wetland facing reclamation threat

Staff Reporter

Wetland is home to migratory birds

KANNUR: A vast extent of the ecologically sensitive Kattampally wetland, home to migratory birds, is facing the threat of large-scale reclamation for developmental works.

Once known for `kaipad' cultivation (paddy cultivation in fields under the influence of tidal flows), the Kattampally area comprising nearly 4000 acres of marshland has been mostly left fallow in the wake of the commissioning of the now failed Kattampally irrigation project. Paddy cultivation in the area is now confined to a few hundred acres. Local environmental activists say that in a couple years much of the Kattampally wetland would give way to housing colonies and resorts. Large-scale filling of wetlands and paddy fields in many parts of the district has accelerated demolition of the eco-sensitive midland hillocks in the district.

Work on an Ayurveda health resort has commenced on a 15-acre plot near Varam Kadavu that forms part of the wetland. A portion of the plot has been reclaimed by a trust headed by the former Forest Minister K.P. Nooruddin.

Ornithologist C. Sashikumar, who has studied the avian population in Kattampally, said it had been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) under the IBA Programme of the Birdlife International. Developmental works such as the resort project and construction of bridges and roads have affected the habitats of birds.

A recent survey in the area has pegged the avian population, comprising the vulnerable Garganey wild duck and Greater Spotted Eagle, at over 16,000, he said. "The developmental activities will destroy the habitat that has already been disturbed by fragmentation of the wetland," said the ornithologist.

He said the number of migratory birds arriving here has been declining over the past few years.

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