Fishermen Fight Kovalam Reservoir Project

Coastal communities, including fishermen from Kovalam kuppam, have petitioned the Tamil Nadu Department of Environment and Climate Change to cancel the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance for the new Kovalam Reservoir Project. Approved by the TNSCZMA, the project is poised to convert vital tidal backwaters into a freshwater reservoir, a move strongly opposed by local fisherfolk.

These communities express grave concerns that the transformation will disrupt the delicate salt-freshwater balance crucial for the breeding of prawns, crabs, and fish. This disruption, they warn, threatens the traditional livelihoods of thousands of families who depend on the estuarine system for their sustenance. The proposed reservoir, spanning 4,375 acres, is intended to store freshwater and supply drinking water to approximately 50,000 residents.

Despite the TNSCZMA granting clearance after reviewing expert input, fishermen point to stringent conditions attached to the approval as evidence of the project's environmental risks. They contend that blocking the estuary mouth to create the reservoir would decimate breeding grounds, increase flooding, and lead to stagnant, polluted waters, making the project's stated aim of not adversely affecting the estuary impossible to achieve.