Lok Sabha Question No. 3553 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-08
Subject: Munroe Thuruthu Wetland
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Suresh Kodikunnil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3553

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2022

## Munroe Thuruthu Wetland

## 3553. SHRI  KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has undertaken any initiative to address the issues pertaining to Munroe Thuruthu wetland ecosystem in Kollam district of Kerala State and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any study by any agencies to ascertain the quality and properties of said wetland;
- (c) whether the Government has further allocated or disbursed any targeted funds for the protection, restoration and rejuvenation of Munroe Thuruthu wetland ecosystem and if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  allocations  made during  the  last  three  years and current year
- (d) whether the Government is aware that the area of Munroe Thuruthu has started to submerge at certain locations and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) & (c) Based on the information received from Government of Kerala, an amount of Rs.74.8 Lakh has been released by the State Wetland Authority Kerala (SWAK) for a project on 'Rejuvenating and Ensuring the Sustainability of  Munroe  thuruth' formulated  by  Munroe  thuruth  Grama  Panchayat.  This  project  is  part  of  Integrated Management  Action  Plan  (MAP)  prepared  for  Ashtamudi  Ramsar  Wetland.  The project includes following activities:
1. Agriculture - Cutting and removal of disease affected, old and senile coconut palms  of  high  tide  damaged  areas,  Replanting  of  new  coconut  palms  (high yielding  and  site-suitable  varieties  only)  -assistance,  Integrated  Management of Coconut  palms  (Organic  matter/Silt deposition in the garden land), Vegetable Cultivation in Pots.
2. Fisheries - Strengthening of shrimp farms in selected areas of the Island in 2 Ha, Mangrove afforestation in a selected stretch of 3 km
3. Animal Husbandry - Duck rearing units.
4. Suchitwa  Mission  -  Construction of sanitary toilets, Plastic  Bin/Bucket compost.
5. Baseline documentation of the Project of all component activities
- (b) SWAK  is  conducting  continuous  water  Quality  Monitoring  once  in  3  months  in Ashtamudi Lake through CWRDM as part of the Wetland Inventory Assessment and Monitoring  System  (WIAMS).  There  are  39  monitoring  stations  that  include  5 stations of Ashtamudi in Munroe thuruthu Grama Panchayath.
- (d) Yes, Sir. A  four-member expert team from DoECC  including the Director, Environment  conducted  a  field  investigation  and  submitted  the  report  on  25 th November  2016.  Kerala  State  Council  for  Science  Technology  &  Environment (KSCSTE) also constituted a four member Expert Committee in 2015. Another study entitled  'Vulnerability  Assessment  of  Munroe  Island'  was  conducted  by  National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai under MoEF&CC in May 2015.

All these studies or reports including the Village Disaster Management Plan Document of Munroe thuruthu Grama Panchayath prepared by Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) confirms the problem of sinking of some low lying parts of the island and the reasons identified are the degradation of underlying organic matter and the lack of supply of silt from Kallada River. The project 'Rejuvenating and Ensuring the Sustainability of Munroe thuruth' is based on the threats to island community  in  the  form  of  low  lying  land  inundation  and  the  danger  of  becoming climate refugees.

*****