SRIKAKULAM: Year 2009 witnessed the birth of two mass environment movements for conserving the wetlands of Srikakulam district—Nowpada Swamps and Sompeta Beela— on which thousands of inland fishermen and farmers depend for livelihood and irrigation.They are also the winter home to a large number of migratory birds.Since Paryavarana Parirakshna Samithi (PPS) of Sompeta and Bhavanapadu Thermal Vyathireka Porata Samithi of Kakarapalli launched their fight, five farmers died during protests against the ‘great robbery’ of wetlands, which are rich in bio-diversity.When Mahatma Gandhi launched his Salt Satyagraha in 1930, an important place in the agitation on the east coast was Kakarapalli swamp, now the proposed location for a 2640 mw power plant to be set up by East Coast Energy.In the words of Inland Fishermen’s Association president Kutro: “The swamp is home to more than 120 migratory exotic bird species.It has four streams and the surplus water of river Vamsadhara flows in.It is a lifeline for thousands of fishermen and farmers.” Due to the government’s favourable attitude towards East Coast Energy Company, we lost two dear ones in police firing on February 28, 2011.The power plant proposal also spelt doom for painted storks and pelicans of Telineelapuram bird sanctuary, adjacent to the swamp, he added.The fragile natural system will be destroyed if the thermal power plant comes up.Around 35,000 acres of paddy fields in 29 villages surrounded by the marsh, levelled for the plant, are inundated during the rainy season now.The report of Asad R Rahmani of Bombay Natural History Society and Asha Rajvanshi of Wildlife Institute of India, submitted to the National Board for Wildlife in December 2009, said clearly that the swamp is “purely a wetland”.Similarly, the National Environmental Appellate Authority team, led by wetland experts Siddhartha Kaul and JC Kala, during their visit to Sompeta in June 2010, opined that Beela has all the features of a wetland.The ministry of environment and forests, based on Kaul and Kala report, quashed the environmental clearance to Nagarjuna Constructions on July 15, 2010, confirming Beela was a wetland.When the voice of fishermen and farmers was hushed by the state, allowing acquisition of 972 acres of Beela, people, including academicians and fishermen, formed Paryavarana Parirakshana Samithi (PPS) in 2009.Starting the wetland conservation movement in the country, it challenged the UPA’s industrial policy.PPS activists fought for their right to live on Beela and lost three protesters in police killing on July 14, 2010.Since July 14 to till today, the legal battle is going on.The government’s attempt at taking away the Beela wetland for industrial purpose was scuttled by the High Court which quashed GO No.1101 for acquisition of land for the thermal plant.The final hearings in the Beela case are now on at the National Green Tribunal.But the state government did not take back the Beela land from the company and was maintaining silence on the issue.“Lives were lost in police firing; experts say it is wetland; courts say the land must be taken back.What more can we do to protect it?” protesters ask.Six years after the National Forest Commission’s prime recommendation to the Central government over conservation of wetlands, no mechanism is in place till today.On its part, the state government never brought to the notice of MoEF the issue of including state’s marshes in the list of wetlands to be protected, says R Ravi, environmental activist of NGO Samata.A ray of hopeThe ministry of environment and forests asked Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Tamil Nadu, to prepare a report on the wetlands in Srikakulam district by March 31.“Our report, based on an ongoing study, is likely to be considered when the MoEF initiates special action to conserve wetlands and when it includes unidentified eligible wetlands in India’s wetlands list,” SACON team coordinator K Mathew Sebastain told Express.The report offers a ray of hope to both PPS and Kakarapalli protesters * The report of Asad R Rahmani of Bombay Natural History Society and Asha Rajvanshi of Wildlife Institute of India said clearly that the swamp is “purely a wetland”.* The ministry of environment and forests, based on Kaul and Kala report, quashed the environmental clearance to Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), confirming that Beela was a wetland.* The government’s attempt at taking away the Beela wetland for industrial purpose was scuttled by the High Court which quashed GO No. 1101 for acquisition of land for the thermal plant.* The state government did not take back the Beela land from the company and was maintaining silence on the issue.
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