Hyderabad, April 02: Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu has requested Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to exempt Kolleru lake from Wetland Conservation Order and reduce its boundaries from fifth-contour to third-contour to protect livelihoods of over five-lakh families.
In a letter written to the Union Minister on Thursday, Mr. Naidu sought the former’s intervention to take into account the plight of lakhs of small and marginal farmers’ and fishermen depending on the lake spread over Krishna and West Godavari districts.
The Minister, during his visit to the lake areas on February 28 last year, had assured to protect wetlands and livelihoods of local communities, he recollected.
Empowered committee
A seven-member empowered committee appointed by the Ministry and led by an expert had an in-depth study of the issue by visiting several villages in September last year. It had also examined the feasibility of reducing boundaries of the lake.
The Ministry’s notification issued in December 2010 including Kolleru lake covering 90,100 hectares under Wetlands Conservation Order had serious repercussions and jeopardised the lives of local communities, Mr. Naidu noted. Antagonised by the order, local people, political parties and other organisations had made a flurry of representations to the Ministry.
As the committee was expected to submit its report to the Ministry on April 15, it was appropriate for the Minister to come to the rescue of the affected people, Mr. Naidu said.
Resolution
Meanwhile, TDP legislator from Denduluru, Chintamaneni Prabhakar told mediapersons here on Friday that the Assembly had adopted a resolution unanimously in 2008 requesting the Centre to reduce the area of the lake. He reminded the ruling Congress that it too was party to the resolution and requested it to uphold the local communities’ hope.
–Agencies