Thiruvananthapuram: Akkulam lake continues to be in the grip of hyacinth menace although Rs 15 crore has been spent on controlling it by various departments in the last one-and-a- half decades. With lack of innovation or persistence, it has become almost impossible to manage it, let alone eradicate the invasive species. While the government is pondering over flushing the lake with seawater, it is not known how it will affect the freshwater animals in the lake.
The mechanical removal of hyacinth being done by the inland navigation department is the most expensive and ineffective way to battle the menace. The use of chemicals will only add to the massive pollution in the lake and salinisation remains the only way out.
“The hyacinth will multiply in 15 days even if it is removed by mechanical or chemical method because the spores present in the mud will come up and bud into a new plant. If you increase the salinity of water, the hyacinth will be eradicated. However, it is not known whether our indigenous freshwater fishes will be able to migrate to avoid salinity” says environmental activist V.K. Madhusoodhanan. According to other biologists, in some water bodies animals evade or adapt to the saline water.
“Annually, when the pozhi (sandbar) breaks, we give contract to push out water hyacinth from Parvathi Puthanaar into Akkulam using heavy machinery. The contract has been awarded this time also. From here, it will be released into the ocean. Now the dredging in the lake has come to a standstill. We have got orders only to clear Parvathi Puthanar and hyacinth may be here to stay at Akkulam this monsoon,” said assistant executive engineer Letha of irrigation department’s inland navigation section.
With the disposal of garbage from a nearby hospital and numerous apartments coming up on its shore, Akkulam lake is filled with waste that is a manure for hyacinth to multiply at the rate of 100 per cent every two months.
