The ongoing mapping of wetlands in the State by the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre is likely to lead to positive interventions, claim scientists at the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), who have done extensive research on the subject.
A list of important wetlands that need to be notified is expected to be prepared after the mapping that began after a directive from State Wetland Authority Kerala. Formation of a digital inventory on such locations and its uploading on a dedicated Central government web portal too is part of the mission.
“The notification process is one of the crucial steps towards future conservation of wetlands. We hope that it will also tighten surveillance against encroachments and illegal landfilling attempts,” says P.S. Harikumar, Senior Principal Scientist, CWRDM, who led some of the earlier studies on wetland conservation in north Kerala. Mr. Harikumar is a member of the State Wetland Technical Unit set up by the State government for the mapping project and other conservation works.
He makes it clear that the vulnerable wetland areas previously identified in Kozhikode district will be covered in the process and in the subsequent notification. “Paddy fields, however, have been excluded from the project,” he adds.
