The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) will submit its final report on the mangrove theme park at Pappinissery to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in a week, authority Chairman C.T.S. Nair has said.
He was talking to mediapersons on Monday after a visit to the park as part of the authority's ‘assessment of damage' caused to the fragile mangrove ecosystem in the area due to the setting up of the park. The park, run by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-backed Pappinissery Eco-Tourism Society, had been closed following an order of Central Ministry on July 19 citing violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
The park, on a 4.86-hectare mangrove plot, is on the northern bank of the Valapattanam river. The order was based on the findings of a two-member team.
A seven-member team of the KCZMA had visited the park and submitted a preliminary report. The data collected by the team would be subjected to scientific study. It will be assessed whether the damage is reversible or irreversible. The final report would be submitted after examining the environmental implications of the works undertaken at the park, he said.
Large tracts of mangrove had been destroyed across the world over many years. Mangroves are vital for the protection of biodiversity. It would take five years for the natural regeneration of mangroves in a mangrove area, he said.
