#SaveKodaiLake Stop unscientific development

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To:

Director of town and country planning, Tamil Nadu

Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Kodaikanal

(Photo credit: Mohammed Farooq/ The Kodai Chronicle, 2017)

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Have you been to Kodaikanal? If you have, the lake in the photo above may seem familiar. This beautiful lake in the eco-sensitive hill station is under serious threat.

A 24 crore project to ‘develop’ the lake is underway without the establishment of a committee of experts (other than those consulted by the government at Anna University).

Here are some of the developments being planned:

Toilets near the lake with no visible sewage treatment
7 floating water fountains
Floating electric aerators
Pavement repair
Relaying of the road around the lake
Widening of the lake road
Dredging of the lake
Walkway garden
A new upgraded boat club with table tennis and restaurant facilities

And now here are some of the issues with these plans:

The detailed development plans (DDP) for the above have not been shared with the public, even when requested by local citizens and organisations. So it is unclear how these developments will be implemented.
Tenders have been awarded, again, without any reports of an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment).
An assessment report to quantify tourist carrying capacity is lacking. Those who have approached the municipality to ask for clarifications have been met with reluctance.
There is no sewage treatment for the already existing residences, hotels and other commercial activities around the lake.

The Kodaikanal lake is protected under legal provisions too. The lake comes under the *prohibited zone* under the Kodaikanal master plan act of 2013. Article 48 A of the Constitution of India mandates that ‘the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country’.

“This beautiful hill station is being exploited to the last inch for the purpose of promoting tourism, which is leading to the destruction of its natural resources. Water scarcity and mile-long traffic jams are major problems for local residents and visitors. There are very few facilities for tourists and the garbage situation is becoming unmanageable. The Municipality must focus on providing better facilities by carrying out routine maintenance and repairs of the lake road, a major tourist attraction.” - A Kodaikanal resident

We are demanding that the developments around the lake, which are not permitted within 200 meters of this water body, are stayed till experts have been consulted and plans have been made transparent and available to the public.

Join us today to save Kodaikanal lake by sending an email today. It will take less than a minute.

Source: www.thekodaichronicle.com

Subject (required):

Dear (cc ),

Email body

With respect to the Kodaikanal lake development project. I would like to register the objections mentioned below.

The 24 crore development project for Kodaikanal’s beautiful lake is unscientific and will destroy our eco-sensitive hill station.

Here are my concerns: 
There is a district-level wetlands management committee under the Tamil Nadu State Wetlands Authority, which is supposed to oversee all projects in wetlands including Kodaikanal Lake. The committee consists of the District Collector as Chairman, the District Forest Officer as Secretary and Wildlife Warden, engineers, and an expert in wetland management. An NGO has to be a committee member. It is believed that this committee is dormant, clarification is sought.
A Detailed Project Report (DPR) has not been shared.
The 14 silt traps of the lake, through which water flows from the Sholas into the lake, are blocked
It is understood that tenders have been awarded, again, without any reports of an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment)
Zero treatment for sewage from residences, hotels and other commercial activities around the lake, and around 8 micro watersheds in the 12 kilometres around the lake
An assessment report to quantify tourist carrying capacity is lacking. Those who have approached the municipality to ask for clarifications have been met with reluctance.
Tourists and residents should both be able to enjoy Kodaikanal. How is this possible given the lack of regulation and environmentally-sensitive facilities for visitors?
Shopkeepers and hoteliers should be able to conduct business while not disabling daily life for residents (traffic and over-crowding mean that residents are often held hostage in their own town, tourists resort to bathing and urinating/ excreting in public places due to a lack of adequate facilities)
We have seen how other hill stations have been over developed, from Ooty to Shimla, and do not want Kodai, already over-extended, to go the same way.

I urge you to follow the due process and consider the following objections.
 
In the interim we request you to 
1. Provide the detailed project plans. 
2. Conduct an EIA, based on exact details of the project. 
3. Developments around the lake, which are not permitted within 200 meters of this water body, are stayed till experts have been consulted and plans have been made transparent and available to the public.

Sincerely,

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