THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Every water body in Thiruvananthapuram, whether big or small, polluted or not, encroached upon or fenced, is not far from a restoration if things pan out the way the District Panchayat is hoping. It has directed all the 73 grama panchayats in Thiruvananthapuram to bring out a comprehensive wetland conservation master plan, in a bid to give a new lease of life to water bodies. While nearly 40 grama panchayats are almost half-done with their master plans, it is the Kalliyoor grama panchayat’s master plan, completed last week, that has been referred to as a model by the District Panchayat. The master plan, a voluminous one, dwells elaborately on the spread of the panchayat, the details of the water bodies in the panchayat, the land near them, the survey details of the properties nearby and so on. It could be seen as a complete database of the panchayat as it has laid down the population, the roads, the occupation of people and details that are needed for the planning process. The District Panchayat also plans to use this data for effective implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the panchayats. That Kalliyoor panchayat is where the Vellayani lake is located makes it a significant master plan as the lake has been encroached upon and exploited over the years. In its first budget, the Congress-led District Panchayat had stressed on wetland conservation and food security as its thrust areas. It had also set aside Rs 10 crore for the restoration of the Vellayani lake. ‘’Only after the 73 grama panchayats come up with their individual master plans can we go ahead with the creation of one for the District Panchayat. We have asked the panchayats to finish the work soon and submit it before the end of this week so that we can include it in our Annual Plan for 2011-12,’’ said Rufus Daniel, vice-president of the District Panchayat. It is with the help of the Land Use Board and the Vellayani Agricultural College that the Kalliyoor grama panchayat succeeded in bringing out its model master plan. ‘’We had entrusted the Vellayani Agricultural College with the task and ward members and coordinators also helped. They visited every nook and corner of the panchayat, every road, every house and compiled the data,’’ said T Sailesh Kumar, Kalliyoor grama panchayat president. However, the grama panchayat members have asked the State Government to conduct a resurvey of the land near Vellayani lake as the encroachment of the water body is enormous. Meanwhile, the government-appointed committee to study the restoration of Vellayani lake is to meet again this week.
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