THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has initiated steps to set up authorities for conservation and scientific management of wetlands and river basins, Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran said here on Saturday.

He was speaking before inaugurating a seminar organised in connection with World Wetlands Day 2008.

Mr. Premachandran said the authorities would have statutory powers to check reclamation and pollution of wetlands and regulate sand-mining from waterbodies.

He said the Department of Water Resources was working on provisions to accord legislative support to the proposed authorities.

Highlighting the need for an integrated approach to the scientific management of river basins, he said the absence of such an approach was responsible for the failure to utilise the funds sanctioned for the Pampa Action Plan.

He said the authorities would comprise scientific experts, stakeholder departments and organisations, non-governmental organisations and local self-government institutions. Local bodies would have a key role in preserving the remaining wetlands.

Mr. Premachandran said pollution, reclamation, sand-mining and construction activities were posing a grave threat to the Ashtamudi, Vembanad and Sasthamcottah lakes. The Union government had approved a Rs.6-crore package for a management action plan for Vembanad Lake.

Mr. Premachandran said heavy depletion of groundwater in several parts of the State could be linked to the degradation of wetlands. “Despite a 30 per cent surplus rainfall last year, large parts of Kerala are already experiencing drought conditions, much before the summer. Tubewells and bore wells are running dry.”

He warned that the State would have to face a severe water crisis in the immediate future unless steps were taken to conserve the remaining wetlands. “It is time for the State to evolve a conservation policy and a management action plan for wetlands.”

Mr. Premachandran said the government had launched a school-level awareness campaign on the need to conserve wetlands. He stressed the need for strict regulations to prevent the misuse of water. He said the conservation of paddy fields and wetlands Bill would be moved in the next session of the Assembly.

Presiding over the function, E.P. Yesodharan, executive vice-president, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), said wetlands had a key role to play in reducing the impact of climate change and sustaining life on earth. “They help to moderate floods, conserve wildlife and biodiversity and ensure livelihood security.” The council was working on a conservation project for wetlands, he added.

Earlier, delivering the keynote address, National Wetland Committee member E.J. James said the State was heavily dependent on wetlands for its survival. He said the Wetland Regulatory Notification, to be issued by the Centre soon, would contain provisions to conserve the remaining wetlands in the country.

He highlighted the need for a policy and legal framework for integrated management of wetlands.

Babu Ambat, director of the Centre for Environment and Development, and George Chackacherry, scientist at the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) addressed the function.

Addressing another function organised by the National Green Corps and the KSCSTE, Education Minister M.A. Baby underlined the importance of preserving the remaining wetlands and creating new ones to replace those that had been destroyed.

L. Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Department of Power, and V.S. Vijayan, chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, also addressed the function.