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Govt. urged not to close AVM canal

By Our Staff Reporter

NAGERCOIL, JAN.31. The Conservation of Nature Trust here has urged the Government not to close the Anantha Victoria Marthanda Varma canal as suggested by fishermen and others.

Speaking to The Hindu , the chairman, R.S.Lal Mohan, said the AVM canal was formed in July 1860 during the reign of Marthanda Varma Maharaja of the Travancore state. The canal was a scheme for connecting Thiruvananthapuram with Kanyakumari and thus extending water communications to the extreme south of the country.

The canal was also serving as the buffer zone between the saline and fresh water aquifers. But the killer waves, which lashed the coastal areas of the district on last December 26, caused damage to this canal. There were suggestions to level it. But it was not a wise suggestion, as this canal would be useful for getting fresh water when the affected fishermen would be allowed to settle beyond 500 meters from the sea, as per the Coastal Regulation Zone notification.

An expert team from the conservation trust during a visit from Arockiapuram to Midalam, a 40 km stretch, observed that the sea had become very shallow near the coast. It was mainly due to shifting of sand from deeper to shallow areas, due to the tsunami.

The fishermen also said that the off shore areas had become very deep. The areas that were 20 to 30 meters had become 60 to 80 meters or more deep in the Midalam areas. Moreover, the coastal areas of Manakudi near Kanyakumari had become shallow.

As a large amount of silt and mud had been brought to the shore, there would be distinct change in the sand composition especially mineral sand.

There would be a mixing of bottom and surface layers of seawater, due to the tsunami waves.

Nutrients like phosphate and super-phosphate trapped in the bottom layer mixed in the water would increase the productivity (fish production) in the sea. The team also observed that many wells in the coastal areas of the district had become saline. The saline water incursion in the coastal belt would have a long-term effect on agriculture.

In Midalam, the seawater entered up to 2 km, damaging plantain farms, said Mr. Lal Mohan.

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