Nearly 30,000 fishermen living in the Pulicat lake habitations will have a big relief as the State government has decided to sanction ₹48 crore for widening the sea mouths to ensure availability of abundant fish in the 600-sq km brackish water lake near Sullurupeta in Nellore district.
The inflow of backwaters from the Bay of Bengal would not only ensure required water level needed for migratory birds in the lake but would also bring a lot of marine fish varieties and crustaceans.
On this long-pending issue, the local people’s representatives expressed hope that the dredging works would begin as early as possible considering the urgency involved in restoring fishing sources for lake residents.
Way back in 2007 and 2008, the sea mouths located at Rayadoruvu, Tupilipalem and Pulicat villages had significantly narrowed down leading to the drying up of the lake on its outlying areas. It kept becoming more complicated over the past nine years.
Following this, the Pulicat lake fishermen had faced unprecedented problems which included several of them crossing over to the Tamil Nadu side of the lake for fishing in the deeper waters there and picking up quarrels with the local fishermen.
“Actually, a detailed project report (DPR) on sea mouths widening is awaited from the Central government. If there is no progress in this, the Chief Minister has promised to sanction funds to take up these works,” said former MLA and TDP leader Parasa Venkata Ratnaiah.
He told The Hindu that not much sea water was pouring into the lake these days even when there is a high tide.
The backwaters were badly needed as they would bring a wide variety of fish and it was this fish that would make abundant food source for the distant migratory birds like flamingos and also local migrants.
Under the impact of the 2004 December tsunami, the Pulicat sea mouths opened wide raising hopes of better inflow of backwaters from the Bay. But soon things turned for the worse due to unusual sand accumulations and the sea mouths narrowed down completely by 2008.
There are nearly 17 fishermen habitations dependent on the local ecosystem in the Pulicat lake and its surroundings. The preservation of biodiversity including avian and aquatic life would be possible with the help of lake-sea connectivity.
