CHENNAI/MADURAI: If
rampant encroachments
weren't bad enough, a fire has now caused havoc at the
Gymkhana marshland
in Kodaikanal, considered one of the oldest in the town. It is also an important
source of water
for the residents.
About 10 days ago, a fire broke out in the marshland and destroyed over five acres of vegetation. The marshland, which sprawls over 20 acres, is partly under the control of the Kodaikanal municipality. About 10 acres is with the state fisheries department, said
Kodaikanal municipal commissioner
K Saravanan.
He said grass in the marshland caught fire naturally as
dry weather
had been prevailing in the town for more than a fortnight. The fire and rescue services personnel used
fire tenders
in the battle.“It took three days to douse the fire,“ he said.
Explaining its importance, biologist K Prabakaran said the juncaceae plant was one of the most common found in the marshland. Other plants such as cyperaceae, poaceae and polyconaceae were also found, attracting a variety of birds such as red whiskered bulbul, yellow and black wagtail, Nilgiri kingfisher, cormorants and pintail ducks.
President of the United Citizens Council of Kodaikanal Minoo Avari said that one rea son for the fire was the high number of borewells being dug by the municipality to supply drinking water to the town. “The sucking of the groundwater had made the weeds on top dry and they caught fire as there has not been any rain,'' he said.
The municipality should take steps to rebuilt one of the two reservoirs which was damaged and use it for conserving water and supplying to the town instead of sucking water from the marshland, he said.
Real Poor Trust director Ganesh Raman said the fires were not caused naturally , but were triggered by people with vested interests who wanted to commercialize the land by putting up temporary structures before setting up permanent structures.
A senior forest officer said: “Of course this marshland is important. It acts as a filtering mechanism. When water from the hills passes through the marshland, the velocity is reduced and silt is trapped from the flowing water, leading to release of clean water into the lake or a water body."
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