Complaints filed over alleged mangrove destruction for STP near Sarovaram
Opposition is mounting against the proposed sewage treatment plant (STP) near Sarovaram Bio Park, with activists alleging that its construction is destroying mangroves and degrading
Opposition is mounting against the proposed sewage treatment plant (STP) near Sarovaram Bio Park, with activists alleging that its construction is destroying mangroves and degrading wetlands. Protesters are urging authorities to halt work immediately and conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment. The Kozhikode-based Pouravakasha Samrakshana Samithi has submitted complaints to various government departments on the matter. According to the complaint filed by committee chairman Satheesh Parannur, a site inspection revealed the remains and pneumatophores (breathing or pencil roots) of Avicennia officinalis (a mangrove species locally known as Uppootha), along with stagnant brackish water. The complaint states that there is clear evidence that trees and vegetation were uprooted using a JCB and that the area was subsequently filled with soil.
Several rare plant species are also alleged to have been destroyed. Parannur said mangrove ecosystems are classified as Ecologically Sensitive Areas and fall under the CRZ-I category under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011. Construction activities such as STPs and land reclamation are prohibited in CRZ-I areas, he said. The committee further alleged that the activities constitute blatant violations of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and orders of the Green Tribunal. The complaint also alleges that an official from the Programme Unit of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) had certified that the site was not a wetland, thereby facilitating the construction of the STP.
Complaints have been submitted to the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA), Forest Department, Kozhikode District Collector, State Wetland Authority Kerala (SWAK), Kerala State Pollution Control Board, Kozhikode Municipal Corporation, and the Chief Secretary of Kerala. The committee has demanded that the KCZMA and the Forest Department conduct a joint site inspection immediately and inform the petitioner in advance so that he can participate in the inspection. It has also sought the issuance of a temporary stop memo on construction activities until the CRZ status of the site is clarified. The committee further demanded legal action against those responsible for the alleged environmental damage and restoration of the destroyed wetland and mangrove ecosystem at the expense of the KWA.
The BriefWire