Revive Vellayani
About The Lake
Vellayani Lake is a rich wetland that was once the home of an abundance of Flora and Variant Fauna, the second largest wetland and freshwater lake in Kerala. This lake is on the threshold of an untimely demise. This would be a major offset to the fragile ecosystem and will affect the livelihood and age-old lifestyle adversely. It can be said in all fairness that a large percentage of the lake surface has been covered by weeds, some of which are of foreign origin and unsuitable for the unique environment of the lake. The lake is already lost its visitation of a large number of migratory birds. This eco-impact, while immediately unrecognizable, will surely create a huge environmental deficit to the already stretched ecology not only in the periphery of the; lake, but of the entire district.
The Project
The plans to revive the lake and to sustain its sanctity shall be a four-pronged attack, on five, key root causes. The identified causes are
1) Weed Growth and Invasive Alien Species that threaten the native aquatic flora.
2) Using the lake to dump waste including non-degradable items.
3) Lack of awareness and sustainable interest among the local populace
4) Absence of a reliable biodiversity register
5) No serious attempt so far to invoke the interest of International Conventions like RAMSAR CONVENTIONS.
The plan of action shall be:
- The de-weeding of the lake.
- Immediate and effective prevention of dumping waste in the lake (c) Involving the local populace in the activities…
- Run awareness campaigns in the locale and in schools in the district to spread the message of environmental protection, and more locally, the importance of the preservation of the lake.
- Create a well-documented and photo and video graphed bio diversity register for perusal and a referral point for the future.
- Creating sustainable lake centric livelihood, among the local population, to ensure sustained local involvement in the protection of the lake.
The removal of weed shall start in the month of May 2019. The process shall involve both manual and mechanized clearing. Revive Vellayani has reached an agreement with ManProp Pvt Ltd, with regards the mechanized de-weeding of the lake of all Alien Invasive Species like the Water Hyacinth and Molasses.
The weeds removed would be used in two ways
- Composting the weed with local help to produce manure and biogas
- For creation of Value added Products (Workshops are planned to be held to train local populace in the making of these products. Revive Vellayani has sought and have been promised assistance in this by Aquatic Weeds Centre, headed by Dr Nagendra Prasad.)
The creation of a Biodiversity Register, which will create a bio map of the fauna and flora of the lake. Plans are also afoot to create a video document for the lake to enable the listing of the Lake as a Ramsar Site. The progress shall be mapped and indexed and will be comprehensive and comprehendible to even laymen enthusiasts.
Bio Remediation will be implemented to prevent the regrowth of weeds and to ensure the purity of water. M/s SURAZ TECH has been entrusted the responsibility of remedying the lake using nonchemical, biological agents.
| VIVE VELLAYANI GOVERNING COMMITTEE | |
| IMPLEMENTATION & INVESTIGATION AGENCIES – GOVT OF KERALA & SWASRHI FOUNDATION | |
| REVIVE VELLAYANI | |
| Chairman | Kadakampally Surendran, Minister For Tourism & Devaswom |
| Working ChairmanChairman | M Vincent, MLA, Kovalam |
| Vice-Chairman | Dr. Shashi Tharoor MP |
| General Convener | V Sivankutty Chairman ( Ex MLA), Chairman KILE |
| Convener | Dinesh Bhasker |
| Convener | S N Reghuchandran Nair, President Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce |
| Convener | Venganoor Satheeh (Vice President Venganoor Panchayat) |
| Project Advisor | T K A Nair IAS (Retd Principal Secretary to the PM) |
| Project Advisor | P H Kurien IAS (Retd Additional Chief Secretary |
| Gen Secretary | Jacob Punnoose IPS (Fmr. DGP &State Ploce Chief,)and Chairman Swasthi Foundation |
| Chief Co-ordinator | Balakiran IAS (Director Tourism) |
| Administrator | S Gopinath IPS (Fmr. IG of Kerala Police & Trustee Swasthi Foundation) |
| Co-ordinator | Dr Inbasekhar IAS RDO Trivandrum |
| Chief Co-ordinator | Abey George (Gen Secretary, Swasthi Foundation) |
| Convener, Water Sports, and fitness | Sanjayan Kumar IAS |
| Joint Administrator, Water Sports, and fitness | Dr. G Kishore Director SAI & Principal LNCPE) |
| Facilitator | Fr Mathew Chakkalakkal ( Principal, Christ Nagar Secondary School, Thiruvallam) |
| Joint Convener Technical Sub Committee | Maju Balakrishnan |
| Chief Investigator | Prof Dr. P Rajendran |
| Principal Investigator | S Gopinath IPS |
| Joint Convener, Survey & Research Sub Committee | Sreeraj |
| Joint Convener, Water Sports and fitness Sub Committee | V V Vinodkumar |
| Joint Convener, , Campaign | Dr. G V Hari |
| Joint Convener, Campaign | Koliyoor Suresh |
| Joint Convener, Campaign | Adv Punchakari Ravi |
| Joint Convener,, De-weeding & Beautification | Adv Dimple Mohan |
| Joint Convener,, Campaign | Dr. G L Muraleedharan |
| Joint Convener,, De-weeding & Beautification | V Karthiyayani |
| Joint Convener,, Campaign | Gokul Govind |
| Joint Convener, Campaign | Hari Krishnan |
| Joint Convener,, Campaign | Ambili Jacob |
| Joint Convener,, Health Sub Committee | Dr. Chandramohan |
| Joint Convener,, Health Sub Committee | Dr. Devin Prabhakar |
| Joint Convener, Health Sub Committee | Dr. Anupama |
| Joint Convener,, Health Sub Committee | Dr. Karthika Gopan |
| Events Co-ordinator | N V Ajith |
| Events Co-ordinator | R S Shibu |
| Events Co-ordinator | Deepu S G |
| PRO | Mohan Pillai |
ASSOCIATIONS
Trivandrum District Administration, State Wetlands Authority of Kerala,Kerala Police, Fire and Rescue Services of Kerala, T M Jacob Memorial Trust, Citizens India Foundation, Change Can Change Climate Change, College of Agriculture, Vellayani ,S N United Mission, SAI-LNCPE, Christ Nagar Senior Secondary School, Thiruvallam, SMRV School,Habitat Technology Group, Parvathy Hospital Balaramapuram, Santhigiri Ashram, Kerala Police Senior Officers Association, Kerala Police Officers Association , Thiruvananthapuram Advocates Housing Co-operative Society Ltd, Rotary Club of Trivandrum West, Ayyankali Jalolsava Committee, FRAT, and CIMR, Media Partner – Metro Manorama, Trivandrum
Radio Partner- RED FM 93.5 Mission Partner, Divya Prabha Eye Hospital
PR & Media Committee
- Dr G V Hari
- Dr G L Muraleedharan
- Gokul Govind
- Adv Dimple Mohan
- Ajith N V
- Koshy Thomas
- Mohan Pillai (PRO)
- Deepu S G
- Hanshi Vinodkumar V V
- Any updates regarding Revive Vellayani Campaign will be issued by the PRO of Swasthi Foundation, with prior approval of the media committee constituted expressly for this purpose. Government publicity mechanism may issue their updates as per requirement, with regard their involvement or any statutory requirement.
- Periodic updates will be issued and clarifications if any need to be referred to Swasthi Foundation Media Committee or the PRO of Revive Vellayani Media Committee.
