The committee will submit the proposal to the Government in a month through the Thiruvananthapuram district collector. The plan is to identify encroachments and to fix the boundary of the lake.

The district administration appointed the committee on Tuesday with Revenue Divisional Officer KV Mohan Kumar as convenor and George Mercier as chairman. Mohan Kumar told The Pioneer that the district administration would put an end to sand-mining and encroachment of the lake at any cost. "The district administration has taken various steps to stop sand-mining and encroachment. Stringent action will be taken against the violators," he said.

The RDO said the committee had planned its actions on short-term and long-term basis. In the short-term basis, immediate actions to prevent illegal sand-mining and unauthorised construction will be taken. Prevention of mixing of pesticides in the lake water is another action intended in the primary level, he added.

The committee will form a long-term action plan for the protection of the lake. As part of this, relevant norms against sand-mining that provide for two-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000, will be implemented against those who do illegal-mining or stocking the mined sand or transporting sand to various places.

"The law against the sand-mining was not strong till date. Now, it has been decided to prosecute the person(s) responsible for the crime as per the rule instead of levying fine," Mohan Kumar said.

He said the panchayat officials had been directed to monitor unauthorised construction and to take action against those who violated the building and construction rules. The panchayat will give 30 days notice to such persons to demolish the constructions, and if they do not take any action as per the notice, the panchayat, Revenue officials and the police would bring the building down, he said.

The committee will undertake a survey to determine the actual area of the lake. Mohan Kumar said according to the earlier reports, the lake had an area of about 750 hectares. Now, the lake occupies an area of just 149 hectares. Waterlogged land area around the lake would come to 96 hectares. "The area around the lake, which is now occupied by people, will also be tabulated in the survey," he said.

Barricades will be constructed to prevent entry of vehicles to the river-side and to check illegal sand-mining and a portion of the river will be identified as bathing zone. The police and anti-sand mining squad under the Revenue Department will vigil throughout the night to prevent illegal sand-mining.

The RDO said the vigilance committee was supposed to implement a package comprising all these measures. He added that the implementation of the package would be done in cooperation with various departments like revenue, irrigation, soil conservation and agriculture. The vigilance panel would coordinate the various activities and do a monthly review to assess the activities.

The committee comprises panchayat officials, corporation councillors, police officials and social and environmental activists.