(a) whether the Government has provided any assistance in the cleaning up of the Vembanad Lake since 2014;
(b) if so, the details thereof, including the total funds allotted and the percentage of utilization of such funds; and
(c) the other steps taken by the Government for conservation and protection of Vembanad Lake?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a) to (c) Ministry has sanctioned an amount of Rs. 140.75 lakh to the Government of Kerala on 60:40 cost sharing basis which includes Rs. 84.45 lakh as Central share and Rs. 56.30 lakh as State share in 2017-18. The grant has been sanctioned for conservation activities like integrated wetland inventory and assessment, training on integrated wetland management and creation of resource material, biodiversity conservation, catchment management and mangrove restoration etc. Since the grant could not be utilized by the State Government during FY 2017-18, entire grant was revalidated for the financial year 2018-19. Due to severe floods that affected Kerala during August, 2018, the activities under the Management Action Plan of Vembanad Lake could not be achieved. Hence, entire amount has been revalidated for the current Financial Year 2019-20.
Being a Ramsar site, the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 meant for regulating activities within the wetlands are also applicable to Vembanad Lake. As per these Rules, State Wetland Authority of Kerala (SWAK) has been constituted by the Government of Kerala, which monitors the conservation activities within Vembanad Lake.
State Government has carried out various activities for conservation and management of Vembanad Lake that includes inter alia, training of Gram Panchayat representatives on wetland legislation.
The State Wetland Authority Kerala promotes various research projects in and around Vembanad Lake and some of the initiated projects are:
(i) Effect of the Great Flood on the diversity of fishes, birds an butterflies in upper Kuttand area of Alappuzha Distirct.
(ii) Wetlands and Sustainability-mangrove afforestation activities in Nettoor Region, Biodiversity assessment in Vemband Lake.
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