The State government on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that 114 encroachments along the Chilavannoor lake had been detected during a survey.
The report containing the survey details of the encroachment was submitted to the High Court by the Fort Kochi Sub Collector.
The survey was undertaken to identify the encroachments following a High Court directive to the Ernakulam District Collector and Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority to carry out a survey on the banks of the Chilavannoor lake.
The survey was conducted by a team headed by the district survey superintendent under the supervision of the Sub Collector. The court had issued the directive on a petition filed by Cheshire Tarzan of Kadavanthra.
According to him, the lake area had been included in the CRZ I as per the coastal regulation notification 2011 since the land near the water body was ecologically sensitive. It was part of the Vembanad backwaters, a critically vulnerable water body. The banks of the Chilavannoor lake had pokkali cultivation and mangrove vegetation. However, it had vanished because of the indiscriminate reclamation of the water body and illegal constructions, he said in the petition.
