The Kolayad grama panchayat here could not have done a better job for its biodiversity conservation and environmental protection than firm enforcement of decisions to ensure compliance.
No wonder that the panchayat’s Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), constituted as per the Biological Diversity Act to accelerate local-level conservation activities, has won the Kerala State Biodiversity Board’s (KSBB) best BMC award this year. The panchayat, located in the eastern hill areas of the district and closer to the forest, took the biodiversity conservation drive in earnest, preparing a green protocol bylaw which allows the panchayat to impose fines on people violating it.
“We impose fine to ensure compliance of measures under the green protocol,” panchayat president Suresh Kumar said on Wednesday while presenting the panchayat’s biodiversity conservation activities at a workshop organised by the KSBB for strengthening the BMCs. The green protocol bylaw was prepared after detailed discussion on the draft at all levels in the panchayat, he added.
The panchayat’s permission is required for holding any function including marriage reception if more than 100 people attend it. Plastic carrybags and other disposables have been banned and ballpoint pens and plastic bottles barred from schools. Ward-level Haritha Karma Sena volunteers in the panchayat monitor the protocol’s compliance and the public is encouraged to send pictures of violations to the panchayat authorities’ WhatsApp accounts.
“The Kolayad panchayat which has implemented around 15 actions plans for biodiversity conservation should be emulated by all panchayats across the State,” said KSBB chairman Oommen V. Oommen, who was present at the workshop. He said the BMCC would extend all its support to the initiatives.
A major highlight of the conservation activities initiated by the panchayat is its strict intervention to stop direct pumping of water from two small rivers by local farmers for irrigation during summer. The panchayat dug 12,000 rain pits last year in an area that faced acute water scarcity.
The panchayat is now conducting a study on flower species, both wild and domestic, in its area. The work to plant trees along a 35- km stretch of road in the panchayat is progressing.
