Kerala - Alappuzha   

Row over annual closure of barrage

ALAPPUZHA: With the district authorities deciding to close the shutters of the Thanneermukkom Barrage, the backwaters of Kuttanad are witnessing a clash of opinion between mussel collectors and paddy farmers.

The 62 shutters of the barrage are closed from December 15 to March 15 every year to prevent the entry of saline water from the sea into the Vembanad Lake and from there, into the paddy fields of Kuttanad.

The entry of saline water, paddy farmers say, will damage the paddy crops and with a majority of farmers preparing to sow for the ‘puncha’ crop, this could affect the fertility of the fields here as well.

On the other hand, mussel collectors and a few fishermen are opposing the closure of the shutters. Their argument is that saline water will enhance the mussel and fish species in the lake. Prevention of entry of saline water and making the lake water stagnant by closing the shutters could kill these and in turn, affect their livelihood, they say.

With the District Collector announcing on Friday that the shutters would be closed one by one as usual, depending on the density of salt in the water, the mussel collectors staged a protest near the barrage on Saturday saying that they would not allow the shutters to be closed.

The Collector, in a statement on Friday, had said that the salt density in the water flowing from the sea into the lake was 0.23 percent as on Friday. The plans were to close all the shutters when the density would reach two percent, he said.

However, with the protest on Saturday, the process is likely to be delayed, officials said.

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