Wetlands News Monitor March - April 2015 TRENDING TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE: 1. News Brief on RAMSAR 2. World Water Day 2015 Celebration 3. Wetland Recreation Activities 4. Report on Wetland Events 5. Wetland Pollution 6. Discovery of New Fish Species in Kerala 7. Report on Endangered Pinzon Giant Tortoise 8. Information on Turtles 9. General News on Wetland News brief on RAMSAR, World Water Day 2015 Celebration, Wetland recreation activities Pollution, General news on wetland WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India 1. News Brief on RAMSAR The destructive methods of fishing and pollution have badly affected the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen who depend upon the Ashtamudi Lake. Mechanized fishing is rampant in the lake and resulted in fish stocks getting heavily depleted. Encroachments on the lake and uncontrolled cruising of tourist houseboats were also affecting the fishermen. Inland water fishermen registered a novel protest against the destructive methods of fishing carried out in the Ashtamudi Lake by organizing a sail past through the lake. The protest was organized under the banner of the Akhila Kerala Swathantra Matsyathozhilali Union and was flagged off by Kadavur parish church vicar Fr. Amal Raj began from the Thevally Bridge in the city culminated at the boat jetty near the KSRTC depot. The dry deciduous evergreen forest, spread over an area of 35 sq. km. at Kodiyakkarai near Vedaranyam, has recorded an increase in wildlife census due to the intensification of anti- poaching activities, proper water management, and conducive habitat for animals and birds by the Forest Department. Source: The Hindu Dt: March 8, 2015 WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India The department staff along with college students of AVC Engineering College at Mayiladuthurai and Government Arts and Science College at Poompuhar conducted one-day wildlife census at Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary at Kodiyakkarai on February 28. The Forest Ranger of Vedaranyam, V. Gobinath reported that the department has identified 948 bucks, 117 spotted deer, 172 horses, 77 monkeys, 82 wild boars, 12 black napped hares, 20 jackals, and 1,525 fruit-bearing bats. The department has recorded an overall 10 per cent increase in the wildlife when compared to last year. Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/census-records-increase-in-wildlife-at-point- calimere/article6970712.ece 2. World Water Day 2015 Celebration World Water Day was celebrated by the residents of the western suburbs and members of unpolluted Cooum River Protection Committee and took part in a rally near Marina beach to create awareness on the need to protect the unpolluted stretches of Cooum and Adyar rivers and also, conserve resources in lakes around the city. The committee members released a handbook on Chennai’s water needs and suggestions to conserve water and distributed pamphlets. Similarly, several people took part in a walkathon organised by MORF India to stress on the need to conserve water and avoid scarcity of resources. Events around World Water Day on March 22 reminded everyone about the implications of dwindling water reserves due to population pressure and pollution. The water pollution scenario in India can be mapped by the findings of the country's key pollution watchdog by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In recent report noted that nearly 37,000 million liters per day (MLD) of 'untreated' sewage water flows into rivers across the country that kept polluting water resource. As many as 302 river stretches on 275 rivers across the country have got polluted due to discharge of both municipal and industrial waste water over the years. WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India Source: The Times of India Dt.: Mar 23, 2015 Source: The Times of India Dt.: Mar 23, 2015 WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India The report, submitted to the environment ministry, said that though the sewage treatment capacity in the country was augmented over the years, the wide gap between sewage generation (57,000 MLD) and treatment capacity (20,358 MLD) kept polluting water resources. While municipal waste water is the prime cause of increasing water pollution, flow of untreated industrial waste water into rivers is not far behind. World Water Day celebrations was organised by the Karunya University, Coimbatore and discussed ways to conserve and judiciously use water. Experts such as B.J. Pandian, Director, Water Technology Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, P.A. Azeez, Director, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, D. Tensing, Director, Civil, Karunya University, and E.J. James, Distinguished Professor, Karunya University, exchanged ideas on water conservation. The university honoured R.K. Sivanappan, the water technology expert who established the Water Technology Centre at the TNAU. Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/residents-come- together-to-protect-water-sources/article7022049.ece http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/37000-million-litres-of- sewage-flows-into-rivers-daily-Report/articleshow/46657415.cms http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/water-day- celebrated/article7025967.ece 3. Wetland Recreation Activities In Coimbatore district the civic body had renovated Singanallur boathouse at a cost of 30 lakh and launched it with much fanfare without purchasing any boats. An adventure company had offered to lend their boats for 10 days but soon the boats returned to the firm. Since then, the functioning of the boathouse has come to a halt, disappointing hundreds of visitors. The boathouse was built ten years ago at the Singanallur tank. But boating services were stopped WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India despite good patronage due to the growth of water hyacinth. Last year, when P Rajkumar became mayor, he announced that the boathouse would be returned to its original glory. The civic body started removing water hyacinth and cleaning the tank and renovated the boathouse. In addition to the 30lakh spent for renovation and beautification, more than 5 Lakh was spent on removal of the weeds. The National Adventure Foundation has brought some canoes, kayak, a banana boat, and an inflatable dingy to train people at the Singanallur Tank with free of cost for 50 people a day on a first-come-first-served basis. Minister for Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Rural Administration, S.P. Velumani declared open the boating on the tank. District Collector Archana Patnaik, Coimbatore Mayor P. Rajkumar, and Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan were present and said that efforts would be taken to clean the tank, and install a sewage treatment plant to purify the water that enter the tank. Source: The Times of India Dt.: Mar 23, 2015 Nainarkulam tank in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu was beautified by the Corporation spending a whopping sum of Rs. 40 lakh nearly a decade ago that attracted a decent crowd. When it was announced that the replica of the Eiffel Tower would come up on its bank and a hotel would be created in the middle of Nainarkulam, people’s expectations heightened further. However, Nainarkulam lost its sheen very soon due to lack of maintenance with the steel railings damaged and stolen and the tiles removed by the miscreants. And, the plans to erect Eiffel Tower never took off. WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India A view of the Nainarkulam tankin Tirunelveli. Photo: A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN Source: The Hindu Dt.: April 6, 2015 To make things worse, debris and garbage dumped in uncontrollable manner even as water hyacinth is spreading menacingly throughout the waterbody. Above all, sewage from the houses and the commercial establishments flows into it in unmanageable level to pollute Nainarkulam to the maximum possible extent. To revive the polluted waterbody, the Corporation has proposed to allot Rs. 1.50 crore for during this fiscal as the amount was earmarked in the urban civic body’s Budget for 2015 – 2016 and the Mayor E. Bhuvaneshwari said that once the renovation work gets completed, the waterbody will be maintained regularly so that it will continue to attract the people. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Without-boats-Coimbatores- Singanallur-boathouse-locked-again/articleshow/46631506.cms http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/boating-allowed-for-10- days-water-level-low/article6976414.ece http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/corporation-to-beautify- nainarkulam-tank/article7072688.ece WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India 4. Report on Wetland Events Big Bird Day is a wonderful celebration of our avian friends through the dedication of an entire day to birdwatching and recording the number of species sighted in a region and then upload a list of their sightings on an online portal called eBird. It was initially started by the Delhi Bird group (created by Nikhil Devasar and Bikram Grewal) as an informal event held in February or March.