TIRUPATI: Tirupati MP Dr. M. Gurumurthy has written to Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for permanently opening the sandbar mouth of Pulicat Lake near Rayadaruvu in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
Once the ministry releases ₹ 48 crore for the purpose, it will ensure availability of abundant fish in brackish waters of Pulicat near Sullurupeta. This will help nearly 20,000 fishermen of the area, who otherwise venture into areas of the lake that come under Tamil Nadu, leading to frequent conflicts between fisher folk of AP and TN.
Pulicat is the second largest brackish water lake next to Chilka in Odisha. The lake in AP receives fresh water from Swarnamukhi, Royyala Kalava, Kalangi and Arani Ennure rivers. However, lack of inflows from these rivers due formation of roads across the lake to Sriharikota and other areas has caused heavy siltation on AP side of the lake. Due to this, fish have been depleting year by year, thereby affecting livelihood of fisher folk living in nearly 20 habitations along the lake in Andhra Pradesh.
“Impact of 2004 tsunami opened the sea mouth of Pulicat Lake wide, which raised hopes of better inflow of backwaters from Bay of Bengal. However, due to accumulation of silt, the sea mouth narrowed and closed completely by 2008. As a result, the lake has started drying up on its fringes. The situation has become more complicated in past 14 years,” the Tirupati MP told Deccan Chronicle.
While the southern part of Pulicat Lake, which falls in Tamil Nadu, is quite deep and has abundant water throughout the year, northern part of the lake in AP has become shallow with a depth below 0.5 metres. This has led to formation of sandbars across the sea mouth. This results in the lake drying up for major part of the year. “Because of this, fisher folk of Andhra Pradesh are forced to cross over to TN side, which leads to frequent quarrels between them. Such disputes can be solved if the silted river mouth at Rayadaruvu is opened,” the MP explained.
He said Central Water Commission had constituted a committee for opening of the sea mouth. The committee submitted a report in 2017 estimating that opening of the sea mouth will cost ₹ 48 crore. However, the union ministry has made no sanction in this regard. The MP has now written a letter to union ministry seeking steps for opening of the sea mouth and protecting livelihoods of thousands of fisher folk families in AP.
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