Conservationists lament damage to wetland caused by dumping silt from Ooty lake

The Water Resources Organisation (WRO) has been accused of destroying a key part of the wetland surrounding the Ooty lake by dumping silt from the lakebed.

Conservationists who visited the site said the entire wetland complex surrounding the lake is at risk of complete devastation. “It was only last year that the Salem division of Southern Railways destroyed another portion of a wetland surrounding the lake by constructing a parking facility. Now it seems to be the turn of the WRO,” said G. Janardhanan, president of the Ooty Public Awareness Association. He said that the government continued to have little regard for protecting wetlands, with major projects, including adventure park facilities already being constructed around the Ooty lake.

The WRO is currently conducting a clean-up and desilting of the Ooty Lake, with conservationists stating that the wing, operating under the Public Works Department (PWD) was causing irreversible damage to the wetland ecosystem, home to multiple species of birds and small mammals as well as unique wetland flora.

N. Mohanraj, a Nilgiris-based conservationist, said that plans to expand the bus stand adjoining the wetland were thwarted a few years ago, citing potential impacts to biodiversity and also due to increase of flooding risk within the town. Mr. Mohanraj said that the wetland acts as a sponge during spells of heavy rain, absorbing excess water from the Ooty lake that would otherwise flood low-lying areas of the town.

“The wetland acts as a swamp-cum-reservoir that reduces flooding. Dumping silt from the lake will fundamentally change it for the worse and reduce its ability to absorb water during rain,” he said, adding that the slurry should be dumped elsewhere where it does not impact biodiversity and fragile ecosystems.

When contacted, sources in the Fisheries Department said that they were not given any prior notice of the dumping of waste from the Ooty lake. “Due to the dumping by the WRO, our farms have become non-operational. We have raised our objections with the district administration which promised to take action,” said an official who requested anonymity.

Conservationists said that damage done to the wetland would take years to reverse. The WRO’s unscientific approach towards desilting the Ooty lake was destroying biodiversity both within the lake as well as wetlands around its perimeter.

When contacted, Ddistrict Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru said that was no permission was granted to the WRO to dump silt in the wetland. She said that the WRO had ceased dumping the silt in May of this year, and that she had sought an explanation from the department for the same. “They have also assured us that once the rain stops and the soil dries, they would remove the silt and transport it to Theetukkal (dump yard),“ said the Collector.