KOLLAM: A meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) for saving Ashtamudi and Sasthamcotta lakes, held at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, has decided to make recommendations to the State Government on the steps to be taken for conservation.

The recommendations include the creation of a lake conservation authority, vested with special powers, especially for Ashtamudi Lake.

The meeting observed that emergency measures were required to save Ashtamudi Lake. When things come under a constituted authority, it will also mean better utilisation of funds allocated for the purpose, the meeting observed. It was also recommended that Ministers P.K. Gurudasan, M.A. Baby and N.K. Premachandran should be made to play a lead role in the lake's conservation since they were elected from constituencies in Kollam district where the Ashtamudi exists.

The mangrove spreads of the lake should be entrusted to the Forest Department for better protection. A suggestion for the construction of a ring road around the banks of the lake was made. This was with the intention of preventing encroachments. But it was pointed out that Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms would come in the way of implementing the suggestion. A unanimous decision was taken that all encroachments on the lake should be cleared.

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