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Expert panel visits Mullaperiyar reservoir

Staff Reporter

To submit report on ecological impact within two weeks

KOTTAYAM: An expert committee appointed by the Kerala Government to study the ecological impact of the rise in the water level of Mullaperiyar reservoir commenced its on-the-spot assessment on Saturday.

Talking to presspersons, chairman of the committee Drupajyothi Ghosh, senior fellow at the Centre for Social Sciences, Kolkata, said the study report would be submitted to the State Government within two weeks.

The ecological study would make only a part of the total impact study being conducted by the State Government on the rise in the water level of the Mullaperiyar reservoir, he said.

The focus of the study would be mainly on the impact of the new ecosystem that had emerged following the fixing of the water level at the present 136 ft. in 1979. During the past three decades, the Tiger Reserve that surrounded the reservoir had developed into a habitat for a number of flora and fauna. The lowering of the water level had also given rise to new human settlements in and around Kumili town as earlier swamps had turned themselves dry and suitable for human habitation.

The team members H.S.A. Yahya (Aligarh Muslim University) and Sarojkumar Patnaik (former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Orissa) and N. Sasi, chief engineer IDRB, Sanker (Kerala Forest Research Institute) and Prakash Kumar (Kerala State Council for Science and Technology) on Saturday travelled over 23 km and visited the Mullaperiyar dam site, Mullakkudi and Thannikkudi areas.

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