The Pampa Parirakshana Samiti, All-Kerala River Protection Council, People’s Action Council and the Palliyoda-Pallivilakku Samrakshana Samiti have called upon the Government and the district administration to take immediate steps to reconvert the vast expanse of wetland and paddy fields that have been illegally converted in the name a private airport project at Aranmula to its original condition, invoking the relevant provisions in the Kerala Rivers and Wetland (Protection) Act-2008.
The PPS general secretary, N.K. Sukumaran Nair, and the PPSS convener, P. Induchoodan, said the district administration should not grant permission for any more hill demolition in the district as it would further aggravate the ground water table depletion, worsening the drinking water crisis.
The real estate lobby has already converted as many as 100 acres of paddy field (puncha) and wetland in Aranmula by bulldozing an adjoining hill in the name of a private airport project.
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The hydrologic regime in its vicinity was badly upset following the indiscriminate conversion of Aranmula puncha carried out in blatant violation of the Kerala River and Wetland (Protection) Act, polluting many wells and other drinking water sources in the locality, Mr Nair alleged.
According to him, the Act categorically states that the authority concerned should initiate effective steps to reconvert the illegally converted land to its original position, if the offender failed to comply with the official direction.
Mr Nair and Mr Induchoodan said the Collector should take immediate steps to utilise the earth filled in the paddy fields and wetlands at Aranmula for rail doubling works, thereby ensuring protection of the Chuttipparamala as well as Aranmula puncha.
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Mr V.N. Gopinatha Pillai, All-Kerala River Protection Council State vice-president, said the district administration should not permit earth removal from the environmentally sensitive Chuttipparamala.
Mr Pillai alleged that certain people’s representatives, and officials attached to Revenue department, Mining and Geology department and Kerala State Pollution Control Board who were hand in glove with the land mafia have been trying to give clearance for demolition of the Chuttipparamala in the name of rail doubling work.
He alleged that certain political quarters have even threatened to shift the District Collector, P. Venugopal, for not yielding to their pressure for earth removal from Chuttipparamala and regularisation of the illegal earth-filling of the Aranmula puncha.
Mr Pillai has called upon the Collector not to permit earth removal from Chuttipparamala in the name of railway doubling work or the proposed private engineering college project there in the larger interests of protecting, atleast, the remaining hills in the district.
All the three environmentalists have stressed the need to retain the lost glory of the wetland and puncha at Aranmula by removing the illegally dumped earth into it, invoking the relevant provisions in the Kerala River and Wetland Act, with out any further delay.