Panchayats trade charges over Kappil lake encroachment

KOLLAM: Under the ongoing blame game between two panchayats - Kottappuram and Edava - over the possession of Kappil Lake in Kollam, illegal construction on the Lake in the name of a boat jetty is continuing. The encroachment is a blatant violation of Coastal Regulation Zone norms, but the panchayat authorities have given tacit permission for the construction even as a ban order prevails. They blame each other for not preventing the construction or even taking action against the illegal construction. The construction of a concrete structure about 30 meters out into the Paravur Lake at the Kappil estuary has been resumed despite directions by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) that ‘the construction is permitted only for the purpose of a boat jetty’.  

Based on inspections conducted at the controversial site, the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority had in March 2016 granted CRZ clearance for the development of Kappil beach as a tourist destination by issuing an order stating the ‘construction will be permitted only for the purpose of boat jetty’. Further, the Authority had also issued a warning that all non-permissible activities in the project would be removed and that the debris, if any, should not be put into the water body, thereby contaminating the water and damaging the environment. Incidentally, a boat jetty is already operational at the spot.

“As we have a ban order from CRZ, revisiting and trying to continue the construction of the structure is nothing but challenging the law of the land. At least, the authorities should step in and dismantle the structure in order to preserve the environment. The two village officers should interfere in the issue for a settlement without fighting things out politically,” Peter Pradeep, director of HELP foundation, who was in the forefront of protest against the encroachment of the lake told DC. The construction will pose a serious threat to the Paravoor Lake and the estuary which is already in an ecologically and environmentally fragile state.