Source : The Hindu, Dated 19th June 2006

ECO CONCERNS: A Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad team conducting the survey of Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam on Sunday.

KOLLAM: The data collection random survey of the Ashtamudi Lake carried out by the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) on Sunday has received an overwhelming response.

The survey was carried out in all the 13 grama panchayats and the Kollam Corporation area bordering the lake.

KSSP district secretary K.R. Manoj said the survey was part of a comprehensive study being conducted by the KSSP with the aim of protecting the lake. As many as 70 teams, comprising four KSSP members each, carried out the survey and 280 houses on the banks of the lake were covered.

Mr. Manoj said early feedback showed that a majority of those living on the banks of the lake had responded positively to the KSSP initiative.

The residents admitted that many of them had their sewage outlets into the lake. They expressed the desire to close the outlets provided alternative arrangements are made.

The study conducted by the KSSP said sewage was a major pollutant of the lake.

Those who depend upon the lake for a livelihood were also interviewed with a separate set of questions. They include inland fishermen, coir workers and those engaged in sand-mining.

The fishermen were asked about the methods used for fishing, the type of nets, the quantity harvested, income from it, any conclusion on species of lake's fish that had become extinct, and whether there was any depletion in the lake's fish wealth.

The KSSP study said novel, destructive methods of fishing were being wantonly employed in the lake.

This was depleting the fish wealth of the lake and in turn affecting the livelihood of the fisherfolk who use traditional methods of fishing.