Save Coimbatore’s Kulams

On December 14, 2011 by K. Mohan Raj

Agenda item proposed by Dr A.J.T. Johnsingh, Member, NBWL
in the 24th Meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL held on 13th December, 2011, 2.00 PM in Room No. 403 at Paryavaran Bhavan, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister for State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests.

The city of Coimbatore has a unique system of tanks (locally called kulams) developed hundreds of years ago by the ancient Tamil kings for irrigation, flood control and possibly for recharging ground water. There are eight such wetlands located within the city and are replenished by the Noyyal river during the rainy season. These include Narasampathy, Krishnampathy, Selvampathy, Kumarasamy, Selvachinthamani, Big tank, Valankulam and Singanallur. In the past, there were numerous tanks in the surrounding areas but most got filled up. Coimbatore receives a moderate amount of rainfall (around 650 mm annually).

A burgeoning population and expanding industries have impacted these tank landscapes primarily in the form of encroachment and dumping of municipal waste and construction debris. Over the decades, these tanks have given way to slums, housing units, bus depots, roads, railway tracks and electricity sub-stations. Even the river has been encroached and is used as a dumping site for municipal waste and construction debris. The area under cultivation around the tanks has declined as a result of the receding water table making agriculture using ground water more expensive. Babul (Acacia nilotica) trees planted in the tank bed under the Farm Forestry scheme of Tamil Nadu Forest Department, which provided roosting and resting sites to numerous species of birds, were felled and removed as part of cleaning of the tanks carried out six years ago. Encroachment by water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) and pink morning glory (Ipomoea carnea) has become a problem. Large quantities of municipal effluents including dyes and electroplating effluents are discharged into the lake making it prone to metal pollution on one hand and eutrophication on the other. In the southern, western and northern parts of the city, there has been reports of heavy metal pollution (including cadmium and mercury from the dyeing, electroplating and jewellery industries) which has affected biotic life in the tanks as well as the Noyyal. Physical encroachment by people is also a major issue along the banks of the wetlands and their supply channels. There has also been reports of hospital waste being dumped on the banks. Human waste make the water highly unhygienic with faecal E. coli and several other pathogens. Since drinking water for the city comes from Western Ghats (Siruvani, Pilloor reservoirs), civil society groups and government agencies of the city do not seem keen on conserving these wetlands.

Neglected and abused by the humans, preferred by the birds

While humans ignore the tanks, birds throng Coimbatore’s tanks. A study by L. Jospeh Reginald et al. (2006) has reported 116 species of birds from Singanallur tank alone. Globally near threatened species such as spot-billed pelicans, painted storks and oriental white ibis still flock to the tanks as winter visitors from July to January. Rare birds like the western marsh harrier, little crake, pallid harrier, gadwall, whitenecked stork, Eurasian spoonbill, marsh sandpiper and black-bellied tern were also reported in this study. A total of 5,777 Spot-billed pelicans and 3,146 Painted storks were counted in the tanks five years ago, proving that Coimbatore tanks were a preferred foraging site for these birds. However, currently, their numbers have dwindled to almost a fifth of what they were five years ago. With an aim of conserving the wetlands, the Coimbatore Corporation drafted a Rs.128 crore proposal under JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission) in 2010. It seems this proposal is not a plan to develop the wetlands for their ecological values; but it is an investment proposal to make money out of it: real estate, speed boats, etc. The plan needs to be revisited to improve upon the wetlands and their ecological services. This is of concern not only for environmentalists but also for all who appreciate Coimbatore city’s ecology, climate and bird life.

The following suggestions have been made by local conservationists led by P.A. Azeez, Director, SACON and C. R. Jayaprakash, Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association.

The tanks, which were handed over to the Coimbatore Corporation last year (2010), need to be given back to the Public Works Department. Sufficient funds must be allocated to set up effluent treatment plants at the inlets of each tank. Encroachment along the supply channels also need to be evicted. However, encroachers need to be provided with alternate residences not very far from the city limits.

  • Local fishermen here belong to largely a single caste and could be enlisted to conserve the wetlands and birds. Awareness programmes need to be undertaken. The contracts given by the authorities for fishing rights need to be clearly spelt out. Stocking of Tilapia, an exotic invasive which outcomptes native species, could be avoided, since the fishermen source fingerlings largely from the fisheries department. If the industrial pollution is not controlled, fishes reared here could eventually become unsuitable for human consumption.
  • Concrete structures in the form of bunds or roads around the tanks should not be promoted in the name of development. Tourism, involving motor boating, kayaking, which will disturb the birds, should not be promoted in the name of eco/adventure tourism. The Rs.128 crore proposal should be revisited to make it more ecologically sensitive with development plans for the wetlands.
  • Watch dog committees should be formed for each tank represented by members of civil society groups, researchers, fishermen and local villagers since government agencies have so far miserably failed in their duty to protect the tanks.
  • Conservation of the tanks can significantly enhance the much wanted and rapidly declining underground water availability in and around the growing city of Coimbatore. This was one of the major ecological functions of the tanks possibly conceived by the far-sighted Tamil kings in the past.
  • There has been a plea from local conservationists that the Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests should visit Coimbatore to observe the status of the tanks in person to take appropriate conservation measures.

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