Report on the proposal for downsizing the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary (+5 to +3 feet contour) By P A Azeez, S Ashok Kumar, B C Choudhury, VNVK Sastry, Sanjay Upadhyay, K Mruthyunjaya Reddy and K Kameshwara Rao Submitted to The Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India April 2011 i AFFILIATIONS Dr P A Azeez Director Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History Coimbatore – 641108, Tamil Nadu Email: [email protected] Mr S Ashok Kumar, IAS (Retd) Plot No: 491, Road No: 10 Jubliee Hill, Hyderabad – 500 033 Email: [email protected] Prof B C Choudhury Wildlife Institute of India P B No. 18, Chandrabani, Dehra Dun – 248 001 Email: [email protected] Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay Advocate - Supreme Court of India and Managing Partner Enviro Legal Defence Firm, Noida, UP Email: [email protected], [email protected] Dr V N V K Sastry 510, Green Block, My Home Rainbow Apartment, Toli Chowki, Hyderabad – 500008 Email: [email protected] Prof. K. Kameswara Rao Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Science & Technology Andhra University, Visakhapatnam - 530 003 Email: [email protected] Dr K Mruthyunjaya Reddy Director General, AP State Remote Sensing Application Centre (APSRSAC) 8th Floor, Swarna Jayanthi Complex, Ameerpet, SR Nagar (Post) Hyderabad - 500 038 Email: [email protected] ii CONTENTS Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... 1 1 Preface .................................................................................................................. 10 2 Operational strategy of the committee ................................................................. 12 3 The Kolleru Lake setting ..................................................................................... 15 3.1 Historical perspective................................................................................... 16 3.2 The catchment and geomorphology of the basin ......................................... 16 3.3 Demography ................................................................................................. 20 3.4 Socio-economic set-up and livelihood changes of the area ......................... 22 3.5 Ecological set-up .......................................................................................... 26 4 Land use changes and associated threats to the Kolleru ecosystem .................... 40 4.1 Land use changes at Kolleru on government initiative ................................ 40 4.2 Encroachments and associated issues .......................................................... 49 4.3 Water diversion and water pollution ............................................................ 50 4.4 Other threats ................................................................................................. 57 4.5 Recap of major drivers for the land use changes ......................................... 60 4.6 Ecological impacts of changing environment .............................................. 63 5 Kolleru lake - conservation and management history .......................................... 71 6 Legal issues related to the sanctuary notification ................................................ 76 6.1 Legal history of Kolleru Sanctuary .............................................................. 76 6.2 The process of making part of Kolleru a PA under the WLP Act ............... 80 6.3 2001: Jaganath vs. Union of India applicability on agriculturists…. .......... 85 6.4 April 2002: Boundary correction of Kolleru: Formal recognition..villages 85 6.5 August 2002: Designation of Kolleru as Ramsar Site ................................. 86 6.6 July 2006: Permission for traditional fishing …. ......................................... 87 6.7 2006: Letter of Collector, Krishna and Advocates’ Committee Report ..... 87 6.8 April 2007: Review meeting of Kolleru lake post demolition ..................... 88 6.9 September 2007: Permission for Freshwater Aquaculture .. ....................... 88 6.10 Ramsar Site: extent and national obligations ............................................... 89 6.11 2010: The coming of Wetland Regulations, 2010 ....................................... 90 6.12 Some legal concerns and legal implications of the findings in the field ..... 95 7 Operation Kolleru .............................................................................................. 102 7.1 Demolition of aqua farms and unauthorized constructions ....................... 102 7.2 Compensation and R & R Policy issues .................................................... 108 7.3 Post operation Kolleru and media coverage .............................................. 109 7.4 Government’s commitment to restore and protect the lake ....................... 111 7.5 Review of post operation alternative livelihood programmes ................... 113 7.6 Potential alternative sources of livelihood ................................................. 116 8 Field consultations and exploring issues............................................................ 122 8.1 Representations - salient points ................................................................. 122 8.2 Merits and demerits of the demand for resizing ........................................ 129 9 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 140 9.1 Contours and boundaries............................................................................ 140 9.2 Ecological / biological ............................................................................... 141 9.3 Pollution management ............................................................................... 142 9.4 Catchment area treatment .......................................................................... 143 9.5 Hydrological .............................................................................................. 143 9.6 Administrative............................................................................................ 145 i 9.7 Legal .......................................................................................................... 145 9.8 R&R actions ............................................................................................... 146 9.9 General ....................................................................................................... 149 9.10 Concluding remarks ................................................................................... 149 10 Acknowledgement ......................................................................................... 151 11 References / Bibliography* ............................................................................ 153 11.1 Court documents, letters etc ....................................................................... 159 11.2 Minutes of meetings ................................................................................... 159 11.3 News papers / TV....................................................................................... 159 11.4 Representations with specific information*............................................... 160 12 Appendices ..................................................................................................... 161 TABLES Table 1: Mandal wise demographic details of Kolleru wild life sanctuary ................ 20 Table 2: SC/ST proportions in Kolleru habitations ..................................................... 22 Table 3: Literacy in Kolleru region ............................................................................. 22 Table 4: Literacy rates for the districts ........................................................................ 23 Table 5: Inflows into Kolleru Lake .............................................................................. 28 Table 6: Water spread area of the lake Kolleru ........................................................... 29 Table 7: Approximate water storage in the lake Kolleru ............................................. 30 Table 8: Rain fall in the area (millimeters) .................................................................. 33 Table 9: Number of birds belonging to major families ................................................ 34 Table 10: Some locations of bird congregation in Kolleru .......................................... 34 Table 11: Land use land cover changes in Kolleru lake area (in hectares) .................. 42 Table 12: Area under aquaculture within different contours ....................................... 42 Table 13: Patta (Zerayati or Ryotwari) lands falling…..(below +5 feet MSL) ........... 44 Table 14: Ownership Patta (Zerayati or Ryotwari) lands …under +3 feet MSL......... 44 Table 15: Villages that falls in flooding zone at different contours ............................ 45 Table 16: Paddy crop inundated in September 2010, Kaikallur Mandal ..................... 45 Table 17: D-form Pattas in the sanctuary area ............................................................. 47 Table 18: Mandal wise boundary discrepancies of the Kolleru WLS ......................... 72 Table 19: Conditions for loans ................................................................................... 114 Table 20: ALP scheme implementation ..................................................................... 115 Table 21. Representation submitted to the committee during its field visits ............. 122 FIGURES Figure 1: The locations (purple triangles) of the public