Kerala - Kochi   

‘Draft fails to address fishermen’s concerns’

KOCHI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has extended the deadline for the State to frame its opinion on the regulatory framework for wetlands conservation, 2008, proposed by it. The State has been told to present its views on the subject before October 15.

The State authorities have started hectic parleys at various levels to prepare its views on the subject which will have far-reaching consequences in a State like Kerala.

The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment has convened a meeting of various agencies and government departments in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27 to discuss the draft proposal.

Three groups will be formed to discuss the categorisation of wetlands and approval procedures, prohibited and approved activities and institutional arrangements as suggested in the draft.

The suggestions and amendments from each group will be presented to the State Wetlands committee headed by the Chief Secretary.

The State Committee will discuss the proposal and place it before the Cabinet after incorporating its views. This will be presented as the view of the State before the Union Ministry, authorities said.

The draft “seeks to set up a legally enforceable regulatory mechanism for identified valuable wetlands, to prevent their degradation, enhance their conservation and wise-use by all stakeholders.”

According to the Vembanad Wetland Conservation Team of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), the draft does not recognise the traditional rights of various communities like fishermen over the wetlands. This may become prohibitive for people who depend on wetlands for their livelihood, according to wetlands ATREE Alappuzha unit.

The draft has also failed to ensure the involvement of the communities and local stakeholder groups in the management of the wetlands.

The representation of people’s representatives and traditional stakeholder communities need to be ensured in the Central, State and district wetland conservation committees, the Trust officials said.

The Trust authorities also felt that there was too much of centralisation of powers in the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and the Central Wetlands Conservation Committee (CWCC).

As the Vembanad-Kol wetland is a Ramsar (an international wetland convention to which India is a signatory) site, it will fall under category ‘A’ as defined in the draft. With the regulatory power for ‘A’ category wetlands assigned to the EAC and CWCC, the State will have no rights to take decisions regarding the Vemaband backwaters and other Ramsar sites in the State, the Trust authorities pointed out.

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