The Pallikaranai fire - TOI reports

PRECIOUS WETLAND IN NO MAN’S ZONE
No Inquiry Into Pallikaranai Blaze As Agencies Pass Buck
Julie Mariappan | TNN

Chennai: It is more than three days since a mysterious fire ravaged several patches of the Pallikaranai marsh but no government agency seems to be taking responsibility to initiate an inquiry into the cause. Several birds are reported to have died in the fire.
While the Kancheepuram forest office says the fire broke out on a few grounds of land belonging to the Corporation of Chennai, the latter says it has little knowledge about how to maintain the area. “The area is not yet notified under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882. It is still owned by the local body. Our staff took pains to douse the flames. The fire and rescue services personnel could do nothing due to the characteristics of the wetland,” Kancheepuram district forest officer P Jayabalan said.
Almost 20 cases had been filed before the Madras high court, laying claim to the lands already notified on the southern side of the marsh. Only eight were disposed of and the forest department is still waging a battle. “It is likely that the patches were set afire by outsiders in a bid to grab the land,” sources said. The forest department is yet to take air samples from the area for testing, due to the confusion over the jurisdiction.
Corporation commissioner D Karthikeyan said that the land was being maintained by the forest department, though informally, based on a decision taken at a higher level. “The title of the ownership is still vested with the corporation,” he said, adding that the civic agency didn’t have the expertise to take care of the wetland. Saturday’s fire is a reminder that immediate steps have to be taken to protect the wetland.
One of the last remaining natural wetlands in south India, the Pallikaranai marsh sprawled over more than 8,000 hectares till 30 years ago.
Today, indiscriminate dumping of solid waste and the discharge of sewage combined with construction of high-rise structures and laying of roads in the surrounding areas have seen the marsh reduced to 800 hectares.
A recent study by Anna University revealed that a large quantity of metallic sedimentation from the corporation dumpyard in nearby Perungudi had been deposited in the marshland, affecting the biodiversity. The forest department was able to build an 870-metre-long boundary wall on the Sholinganallur side only recently.
Forest ranger Ramadoss said plans to set up a flood bund and provide walkways with necessary drainage facilities on the eastern, southern and western boundaries were awaiting the government’s nod. While the bunds will stretch for about 9.5 km, the walkway will be 2 m wide, a blessing for fitness freaks,
ornithologists
and patrolling staff. “The formation of a green belt and an earthern bund, without disturbing the marsh, is a good idea. Or else birds like waders and ducks will not roost in the wetland,” said KVRK Thirunaranan, founder of The Nature Trust.

Marshland yet to be notified as reserve forest
Julie Mariappan | TNN

Chennai: An ambitious plan to notify 150 hectares of the Pallikaranai marsh as a reserve forest area, announced over a year ago by the DMK-led government, is yet to see the light of day. The ecologically sensitive wetland, adjoining the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road, remains with the Corporation of Chennai.
The forest department is said to have taken up the issue with the civic body. “It is a significant site to ensure the contiguity of habitat and bio-diversity in the marsh. Desilting and cleaning operations and monitoring can be conducted at the site,” said Jayashree Vencatesan of Care Earth, a non-government organisation.
A 317-hectare area was notified as a reserve forest area in April 2007, under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882, thanks to sustained efforts of nature lovers, environmentalists, activists and volunteers. It was brought under a separate range in Chengalpet Forest Division at Kancheepuram with headquarters at Pallikaranai. The forest department is still chasing revenue officials to demarcate the notified site.
Care Earth, along with City Connect, in a recent report recommended an “adaptive management plan,” including establishment of a coordinating agency to enable multistakeholder engagement, for the conservation of the marsh. One of the key elements was to prepare a detailed strategy, including ground demarcation, soil and water assessment, ecological profiling, habitat zonation, sedimentation studies, biodiversity assessments.
The Pallikaranai marsh supports over 100 birds species, five of them in the endangered list for Indian birds, and a number of fish and amphibians making it a potential candidate for inclusion as a site under Ramsar Convention, of which India is a signatory. “It is a legally bound mechanism to protect marshlands. The Pallikaranai marsh is certainly qualified for inclusion,” said V Srinivasan of the Save Pallikaranai Marshland Forum. The Wular lake in Jammu and Kashmir and the Chilika lake in Orissa are among such sites in the country.
Care Earth managing trustee RJ Ranjit Daniels said: “The rise in number of species is a sign the marsh is improving. It could also be due to the deterioration of other wetlands near Chennai.” The White-Spotted Garden Skink was recently spotted in the marsh, the first time in the state, as was the Russell’s Viper, the largest and the most widespread of Asian vipers. Fish such as the Dwarf Gourami and Chromide, bred and traded worldwide for aquaria, occur naturally in Pallikaranai. Also, Windowpane Oyster, Mud Crab, Mullet, Half Beak and Green Chromide are some of the estuarine fauna present in the marsh.
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MNS members have documented so much avian life at Pallikaranai. Some of the recent ones:

Rosy Starling
Spot-billed ducks

Grey-headed lapwing

Pied cuckoo
Ruff

Green shank

Black-winged stilts

Avocets

Purple swamp hen