Each year, Vembanad estuary is shrinking by 0.288 sq km, which would leave serious ecological impact on the lives on its banks.

A group of researchers from the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, came to the conclusion after evaluating the coastal morphological data of 44 years between 1967 and 2011.

The research team consisting of P.K. Dinesh Kumar, Girish Gopinath, R. Mani Murali and K.R. Muraleedharan noted that the “rapid pace in urbanisation in the region has brought tremendous changes to the major islands in the estuary.”

The erosion and accretion of the estuary was studied by comparing satellite imageries of 2004 and 2011 with the topo-sheet of 1967 of the Survey of India. The results conclusively showed that the estuary was being inflicted with major geomorphic changes at several segments, resulting in reduction in its extent, it said................Read more

Source: The Hindu