PATHANAMTHITTA: Students of Sree Narayana College in Chengannur surveyed the Varattar, a dying tributary of the Manimala river, as part of an environmental awareness campaign on Saturday.

P.C. Vishnunath, MLA, inaugurated the campaign at Vanchippottil Kadavu at Edanadu, on the border of Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha.

The students, led by the MLA and local environment activists, marched to the Varattar to pour water collected from the Pampa into the river.

Origin from Pampa

The 9-km Varattar originates from the Pampa at Puthukkulangara, near Chengannur, and meanders through Meppuram, Thaimaravumkara, Thalayar, Nannad and Thriuvanavandoor, before emptying into the Manimala at Valathode, near Eramallikkara, in Alappuzha district.

Ajithprasad Thalayar, president of Pampa-Varattar Protection Committee, welcomed the gathering. Chengannur municipal chairman John Mulankattil presided over the function.

College Principal Mohan Sreekumar; programme coordinator and Professor K.P. Mathew; Roby Yohannan, college union chairman; and Kuttoor grama panchayat president Omanakuty Amma; spoke.

Lowering of the riverbed and fall in water level in the Pampa because of sand mining over the past three decades have affected the flow of water to the Varattar.

A causeway across the Varattar, linking Koipram in Pathanamthitta and Edanadu in Alappuzha, has blocked flow of water. Mounds of silt have converted the river mouth into more or less a grass-covered hill.

Wells in the vicinity have turned dry with the depletion of groundwater, and drinking water scarcity is acute in the 12 sq. km Varattar basin, especially during summer.

A major portion of the river has been encroached upon, and some of the trespassers have managed to get possession certificate for the land. Environmentalists have been campaigning for their eviction for a decade. Authorities are yet to initiate steps to protect the river.