Industry & Economy
-
Environment
Plea to protect Vembanad Lake
Our Bureau
KOCHI: The Association of Environment Protection, Aluva, has urged the State Government to take immediate steps for protecting Vembanad Lake as per the Ramsar Treaty on conservation of wetlands.
The Secretary of the association said that the Government had not initiated any concrete steps for protecting Vembanad Lake from increased human activity, including reclamation and encroachment. Vembanad Kole wetlands had been identified as one of the Ramsar Treaty sites.
India is one of the signatories to the treaty, an international convention of wetlands organised by the UNESCO in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971. The Ramsar convention made it mandatory for the signatory countries to include wetland conservation in their national land use plans.
A study conducted by the association found that the lake is shrinking rapidly. It said that the lake, which had an extent of 315 sq km in 1912, had shrunk to 120 sq km. Several hectares of the lake in the Kochi region were reclaimed for constructing residential apartments, roads and bridges.
More Stories on :
Environment |
Water |
Kerala
Article
E-Mail
::
Comment
::
Syndication
::
Printer Friendly Page
|
