Rs 188 crore plan to rejuvenate Kerala's Vembanad lake rolled out

ALAPPUZHA: The Alappuzha district administration has rolled out a Rs 188.25-crore project to breathe new life into Vembanad lake.
The comprehensive project is aimed at cleaning, deepening and restoring the fragile ecosystem of the lake. Designed as a five-year action plan, the initiative is spearheaded by District Collector Alex Varghese and being executed in partnership with local self-government bodies.
The blueprint of the project — christened the 'Vembanad Lake Rejuvenation Project' — was recently presented to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It outlines both immediate interventions and long-term ecological goals.
Alex said the cost estimates may undergo revisions following a detailed assessment by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, which is currently examining the region's water resources and irrigation potential.
'Short-term measures include removal of plastic debris, eradication of invasive weeds, construction of bio-shields to protect agricultural lands and the development of 31, one-km-long bio-bunds across as many as grama panchayats. Additional efforts such as fish ranching and waste collection drives are also on,' Alex said.
The long-term strategies envision a more sustainable future for Vembanad and surrounding areas. These include dredging the lake to increase water retention, encouraging organic farming to curb chemical run-off, restoring local biodiversity and establishing sewage and faecal sludge treatment facilities, particularly in flood-prone Kuttanad.
There are also plans to explore the economic potential of the water hyacinths by converting those into value-added products, alongside promoting tourism and boosting inland fish production.
Already, significant progress has been made, said officials. In a recent largescale clean-up backed by the district administration, 28.72 tonnes of plastic waste and an even higher quantity of water hyacinths were removed from the lake. However, the officials admitted that rejuvenating the waterbody will be an uphill task requiring extensive financial resources, advanced machinery, skilled manpower and inter-agency coordination.

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