DO YOU KNOW SONIA(GANDHI)

INTRODUCTION Patriotic Indians should thank the President of India for having the courage, by citing a legal hitch, to dissuade Ms. Sonia Gandhi from staking her claim to form the government on May 17th this year. She therefore, despite all the contrived media hype, did not, and could not, become the Prime Minister of 1 billion plus people of India. It can now be said that Bharat Mata has been saved from a monumental, devastating, and permanent injury to her national interest and to the patriotic psyche of Indians. Therefore, it should be the resolve of every Indian to make any and every effort that can be made in a democracy, to ensure that Ms. Sonia Gandhi is kept permanently out of reckoning for any public office. For those who instinctively understand that imperative, this Note has been written to explain the factual basis for this rational determination, and suggest what patriotic Indians can do now to implement that democratic and patriotic resolution. My opposition to Ms. Sonia Gandhi is not merely because she is Italian---born, although that by itself is a major issue. In other democratic countries, including in Italy, such an issue [of foreign-born aspiring to be head of government]would not even arise at all because the issue has already been settled by incorporating into law that a person cannot hold the highest public office unless he or she is native born. In India there is no such law but the President, according my knowledge, has correctly acted on a proviso to Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act[1955] which requires the Union Home Ministry to lay down conditions to Indian citizenship acquired by foreigners by registration, condition based on the principle of reciprocity [see annexure 1 & 2]. In Ms Gandhi’s case, such of those conditions that apply to Indians on becoming citizens of Italy, would apply to her. The President reportedly had communicated to Ms. Gandhi on the afternoon of May 17, 2004, that if she insisted on being invited to form the government, he would want first to clarify, on a reference to the Supreme Court, whether in view of this proviso her appointment as PM could be successfully challenged in the court. It is fair to assume that this report of the President’s decision is correct, since the President had before him my petition dated May 15, 2004 [see Annexure-3] making just that point--- that Ms. Gandhi’s citizenship is conditional, and in particular she cannot be the PM legally. The President had also given me an appointment at 12.45 PM on May 17, 2004 to explain my submissions in person, which I did. I also told him that I would challenge such a unconstitutional appointment in the Supreme Court just as I had in 2001 when Ms Jayalalitha was illegally sworn in as Chief Minister by the Tamil Nadu Governor. In that case, the Supreme Court had after hearing me and many other constitutional luminaries, upheld my contention that mere majority in the House is insufficient for being sworn in to a constitutional office, and that the constitutional appointing authority must ensure that there are no disqualifications as well. Ms. Jayalalitha had therefore to step down because she had been disqualified by her conviction in a trial court in the TANSI corruption case [filed by me as a private complaint]. She was subsequently acquitted by the Madras High Court, and hence became eligible the following year. I also cited to the President a 1962 Allahabad High Court case which held that this proviso in the Citizenship Act was binding and lawful. The nation by the stalling of Sonia becoming Prime Minister of India, has thus got an unexpected but temporary reprieve, a reprieve received not only because her citizenship of India by registration is not equal to one by birth even by Indian law, but a reprieve more because of the national security risk that was averted. To comprehend that risk, we must however first understand who Sonia Gandhi really is and what kind of danger she, her family and her friends in Italy, hold for India’s national security. Very little is known about the Mainos’ murky past, and the little that we are told about Sonia are lies. In other words, Indians do not know who Sonia really is or what she represents [see Annexure-4]. Even for an Indian born citizen, we find it difficult to know a person’s true background, but for a foreign-born it is extremely hard because of the remoteness of the place and the language barrier for most people, in this case---Italian. This note is thus an aide d’memoir of certain verifiable facts that taken together constitute the danger that Sonia Gandhi represents for the nation. And that is the real Sonia and what she represents. THREE LIES Ms. Sonia Gandhi’s background as publicized by her and her Congress Party is based on three lies in order to hide the ugly reality of her life. First, her real name is Antonia not Sonia. This was revealed by the Italian Ambassador in New Delhi in a letter dated April 27, 1983 [see Annexure-5] to the Union Home Ministry which letter has not been made public. Antonia is Sonia’s real name as stated in her birth certificate. Sonia is the name given to her subsequently by her father, Stefano Maino [now deceased]. He had been a prisoner of war in Russia during World War II. Stefano had joined the Nazi army as a volunteer, as many Italian fascists had done. Sonia is a Russian not Italian name. While spending two years in a Russian jail, Sonia’s father had become quite pro-Soviet, especially after the liberating US army in Italy had confiscated all fascists’ properties including his. Second, Sonia was not born in Orbassano as she claims in her bio data submitted to Parliament on becoming MP, but in Luciana as stated in her birth certificate. She perhaps would like to hide the place of her birth because of her father’s connection with the Nazis and Mussolini’s Fascists, and her family’s continuing connections with the Nazi-Fascists underground that is still surviving in Italy since the end of the War. Luciana is where Nazi-Fascist network is headquartered, and is on the Italian-Swiss border. There can be no other explanation for this otherwise meaningless lie. Third, Sonia Gandhi has not studied beyond High School. But she has falsely claimed in her sworn affidavit [see Annexure-6] filed as a contesting candidate before the Rae Bareli Returning Officer in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, that she qualified and got a diploma in English from the prestigious University of Cambridge, UK. Earlier, in 1999 in her biographical data given under her signature to the Lok Sabha Secretariat and which was published in Parliament’s Who’s Who, she had made the same false claim [see Annexure-7]. But later she wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker, after I had pointed it out to him in a written complaint of a Breach of Ethics of the Lok Sabha, that it was a “typing mistake”. This qualifies her for inclusion thus in the the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest typing mistake in history. The truth is that Ms. Gandhi has never studied in any college anywhere. She did go to a Catholic nun--run seminary school called Maria Ausiliatrice in Giaveno [15 kms from her adopted home town of Orbassabo]. Poverty those days had forced young Italian girls to go to such missionaries and then in their teens go to UK to get jobs as cleaning maids, waitresses and au pair. The Mainos were poor those days. Sonia’s father was a mason and mother a share cropper [now the family is worth at least $ 2 billion: (see Annexure-10)]. Sonia thus went to the town of Cambridge UK and first learnt some English in a teaching shop called Lennox School [which has since 1990 been wound up]. That is her “education”--- enough English language to get domestic help jobs. But since in Indian society, education is socially highly valued, thus to fool the Indian public, Sonia Gandhi wilfully lied about her qualifications in Parliamentary records [which is a Breach of Ethics Rules] and in a sworn affidavit [which is criminal offence under IPC, severe enough to disqualify her from being MP]. This also violated the spirit of the Supreme Court judgment requiring candidates to reveal their educational qualification on an affidavit [see Annexure-8]. These three lies indicate that Ms. Sonia Gandhi has something to hide, or has a hidden agenda for India to brazenly fool Indians for some ulterior purpose. We therefore need to find out more about her. SONIA'S INTRODUCTION INTO INDIA Ms. Sonia Gandhi upon learning enough English, became a waitress in Varsity Restaurant in Cambridge town. She first met Rajiv when he came to the restaurant in 1965. Rajiv was a student in the University, but could not cope with the academic rigour for long. So he had to depart in 1966 for London where he was briefly in Imperial College of Engineering as a student. Sonia too moved to London, and according my information, got a job with an outfit run by Salman Thassir, a debonair Pakistani based in Lahore, and who has a export-import company headquartered in Dubai but who spends most of his time in London. This fits the profile of a ISI functionary. Obviously, Sonia made enough money in this job to loan Rajiv funds in London, who was living beyond his allowances [Indira herself had expressed anguish to me on this score in late 1965 when I was a young Harvard professor of economics. She had invited me to a private tea at the Guest House in Brandeis University where she was staying]. Rajiv’s letters to Sanjay filed in Delhi High Court by P.N. Lekhi [see Annexure-9] clearly indicate that he was in financial debt to Sonia because he requested Sanjay also in UK then, and who obviously had more access to money, to pay off the debt. However, Rajiv was not the only friend Sonia was seeing those days. Madhavrao Scindia and a German by name Stiegler are worth mentioning as other good friends of Sonia. Madhavrao’s friendship continued even after Sonia’s marriage to Rajiv. Scindia in 1982 was involved in a traffic accident near IIT, Delhi main gate while driving a car at 2 AM. Sonia was the only other passenger. Both were badly injured. A student of IIT who was burning midnight oil was out for a cup of coffee. He picked them up from the car, hailed an auto rickshaw and sent an injured Sonia to Mrs Indira Gandhi’s house since she insisted in not going to a hospital. Madhavrao had broken a leg and in too much pain to make any demand. He was taken to hospital by the Delhi Police who had arrived a little after Sonia had left the scene. In later years, Madhavrao had become privately critical of Sonia, and told some close friends about his apprehensions about her. It is a pity that he died in mysterious circumstances in an as yet uninvestigated aircrash of his private plane in the year 2001. Mani Shankar Aiyar and Shiela Dikshit were to be on that flight too, but were asked to stay behind at the last moment. The circumstance under which Rajiv hastily married Sonia in a Church in Orbassano is controversial, but that was his personal matter which has no public significance. What however is of public significance is that Indira Gandhi who was initially dead set against the marriage for reasons known to her, relented to hold a registry marriage with Hindu ceremonial trappings in New Delhi only after the pro-Soviet T.N. Kaul prevailed upon her to accept the marriage in “the larger interest of cementing Indo-Soviet Friendship”. Kaul would not have intervened unless the Soviet Union had not asked him to. SONIA'S KGB CONNECTIONS Such has been the patronage from the beginning extended to Sonia Gandhi and her Italian family from the Soviets. When a Prime Minister of India’s son dates a girl in London, the KGB which valued Indo-Soviet relations, would naturally investigate her. They had, and found out that she was the daughter of Stefano, their old reliable Italian contact. Thus, Sonia married to Rajiv, meant deep access for the Soviets, into the household of the Indian Prime Minister. Hence cementing the Rajiv-Sonia relations was in the Soviet national interest and they went to work on it. And they did, through their moles in the Indira Gandhi camp. After her marriage to Rajiv, the Soviet connection with the Mainos was fortified and nurtured by generous financial help through commissions and kick-backs on every Indo—Soviet trade deal and defence purchases. According to the respected Swiss magazine, Schweitzer Illustrate [November 1991 issue; see Annexure-10] Rajiv Gandhi had about $2 billion in numbered Swiss bank accounts—which Sonia inherited upon his assassination. Dr. Yevgenia Albats, Ph.D[Harvard], is a noted Russian scholar and journalist, and was a member of the KGB Commission set up by President Yeltsin in August 1991. She was privy to the Soviet intelligence files that documented these deals and KGB facilitation of the same. In her book—“The State Within a State: The KGB in the Soviet Union”, she even gives the reference numbers of such intelligence files [see Annexure-11] which can now be accessed by any Indian government through a formal request to the Kremlin. The Russian Government in 1992 was confronted with the Albats’ disclosure by the media. The official spokesperson of the government confirmed the veracity of the disclosure [which was published in Hindu in 1992; see Annexure-12]. The spokesperson defended such financial payments as necessary in “Soviet ideological interest”. Part of the funds were used by the Maino family to fund loyal Congress party candidates in the General Elections [see Annexure-13]. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, things changed for Ms. Sonia Gandhi. Her patron nation had been disbanded into 16 countries. The rump that became Russia was in a financial mess and disorder. So, Ms. Sonia Gandhi switched and became a supporter of another communist country much to the annoyance of the Russians. The national security ramification of this ‘annoyance’ is now significant: The President of Russia today is Putin, a former dyed-in-the-wool KGB officer. Upon Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government taking office, Russia called back it’s career diplomat Ambassador in New Delhi and immediately posted in his place, as the new Ambassador, a person who was the KGB station chief in New Delhi during the 1970s. In view of Dr. Albats revelation, it stands to reason that the new Ambassador would have known first hand about Sonia’s connections with the KGB. He may have in fact been her “controller” and local contact. The new Indian government today which is defacto Sonia’s, cannot afford to annoy him or even disregard Russian demands that come from him. The Sonia coterie will obviously seek to placate him so as not to risk exposure. Is this not a major national security risk for India and a delicate matter for the nation’s sovereignty? Of course, all Indians would like good normal and healthy relations with Russia. Who can forget their assistance to us in times of need? Today’s Russia is the residual legatee of that Soviet Union which helped India. But just because of that, should we tolerate those in our government set up having clandestine links with a foreign spy agency? In the United States, the government did not tolerate an American spying for Israel even though the two countries are as close as any two countries can be. National security and friendship are as different as chalk and cheese. In December 2001, I had filed a Writ Petition in the Delhi High Court with the photocopies of the KGB documents, and sought a CBI investigation which the Vajpayee Government was stoutly refusing. Earlier, Minister of State for CBI, Vasundara Raje[now Rajasthan CM], on my letter dated March 3, 2001, had ordered the CBI to investigate. But after Sonia Gandhi and her party stalled the proceedings of Parliament on this issue, the then Prime Minister Vajpayee overruled and cancelled Vasundara’s direction to the CBI. The Delhi High Court in May 2002 issued a direction to the CBI to ascertain from Russia the truth of my charges. The CBI procrastinated for two years, and finally told the Court that without an FIR registered, the Russians will not entertain any such query. But who stopped the CBI from registering an FIR? The Vajpayee government! And why? Thereby hangs another tale. The next hearing of the case is imminent. But now Sonia is in the driver’s seat, and the CBI has been reduced in independence even further. SONIA'S CONTEMPT FOR LAWS OF INDIA After Sonia married Rajiv, she and her Italian family aided by friend and Snam Progetti’s New Delhi resident Ottavio Quattrocchi, went about minting money with scant regard for Indian laws and treasures. Within a few years the Mainos rose from utter poverty to become billionaires [see Annexure-14]. There was no area that was left out for the rip-off. On November 19, 1974, as fresh entrant to Parliament, I had asked the then Prime Minister Ms. Indira Gandhi on the floor of the House if her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, was acting as an insurance agent of a public sector insurance company[Oriental Fire&Insurance], giving the Prime Minister’s official residence as her business address, and using undue influence to get insured the officers of the PMO, while remaining as an Italian citizen[thus violating FERA]. There was an uproar in Parliament, but Mrs. Indira Gandhi had no alternative but to cut her losses. She made a rare admission in a written reply a few days later that it indeed was so, and that it was by mistake, but that Sonia had resigned from her insurance agency[after my question]. But Sonia was incorrigible. Her contempt for Indian law continued to manifest. The Supreme Court Justice A.C. Gupta Commission set up by the Janata Party government in 1977 came out with a voluminous report on the Maruti Company then owned by the Gandhi family, and has listed eight violations of FERA, Companies Act, and Foreigners Registration Act by Sonia Gandhi. She was never prosecuted, but can still be prosecuted because under Indian law, economic crimes are not subject to the statute of limitation. In January 1980, Indira Gandhi returned as Prime Minister. The first thing Sonia did was to enroll herself as a voter. This was a gross violation of the law, enough to cause cancellation of her visa [since she was admittedly an Italian citizen then]. There was some hullabaloo in the press about it, so the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer got her name deleted in 1982. But in January 1983, she again enrolled herself as a voter even while as a foreigner [she first applied for citizenship in April 1983] (see Annexure-15). More recently, A.G. Noorani is his book: Citizen’s Rights, Judges, and State Accountability records [page 318] that Ms. Sonia Gandhi had made available to a foreign national the secret papers of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru obviously illegally in her possession, and comments as follows: “Sonia Gandhi has no right to hold them in her possession at all, let alone decide whom to accord permission for access to them” Such is her revealed disdain for Indian laws and that is her mindset even today. She suffers from a neo-imperialist mentality. SONIA GANDHI IS THE MODERN ROBERT CLIVE The bottom line observed in Sonia’s mindset is that she can disregard Indian laws with impunity. If cornered or if she becomes vulnerable to prosecution, she can always run back to Italy. In Peru, President Fujimori who all along claimed to be “born Peruvian”, when faced with a corruption charge fled to Japan with his loot and reclaimed his Japanese citizenship. That is Sonia’s bottom line fall-back option too. In 1977, when the Janata Party defeated the Congress at the polls, and formed the government, it widely known and published that Sonia with her two children abandoned Indira Gandhi, and ran to the Italian Embassy in New Delhi and hid there. Rajiv Gandhi was a government servant then[as an Indian Airlines pilot], but he too tagged along and hid in that foreign embassy ! Such was her baneful influence on him. Rajiv did snap out Sonia’s influence after 1989, but alas he was assassinated before he could rectify the situation. Those close to Rajiv knew that he was planning set things right about Sonia after the 1991 elections. He held her to blame for all the financial scandals that led to his defeat at the 1989 polls. She knew of it too because he had told her on his trip to Soviet Union in February 1991. Ever wonder why Sonia’s closest advisers are those whom Rajiv literally hated? Ambika Soni is one such name. Ever wonder why she has asked the President of India to set aside on a mercy petition the Supreme Court judgment directing that Rajiv Gandhi’s LTTE killers be hanged, when she was not similiarly moved for Satwant Singh who killed Indira Gandhi or even recently for Dhanajoy Chattopadhyaya ? The explanation for this special consideration for the LTTE perhaps lies in what Rajiv had told her about their future. May be therefore Sonia feels obliged to the LTTE for the assassination. More on this later. Those who have no love for India will not hesitate to plunder her treasures. Mohammed Ghori, Nadir Shah, and the British scum in the East India Company such as Robert Clive, made no secret of it. But Sonia Gandhi has been more discreet, but as greedy, in her looting of Indian treasures. When Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Ministers, not a day passed when the PM’s security did not go to the New Delhi, or Chennai international airport to send crates and crates of Indian antiques and other treasures, unchecked by customs, to Rome. Air India and Alitalia were the chosen carriers. For organizing all this, Mr. Arjun Singh first as CM, later as Union Minister in charge of Culture, was her hatchet man. Indian temple sculpture of gods and goddesses, antiques, pichwai paintings, shatoosh shawls, coins, and you name it, were transported to Italy to be first displayed in two shops [see Annexure-16] owned by her sister, Anuskha alias Alessandra Maino Vinci. These shops located in blue-collar areas of Rivolta[shop name: Etnica] and Orbassano [shop name: Ganpati] did little business because which blue collar Italian wants to buy Indian antiques ? The shops were there to make false bills, and thereafter these treasures were taken to London for auction by Sotheby’s and Christies. Some of this ill-gotten money from auction went into the bank accounts of Rahul Gandhi in the National Westminister Bank and Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, London branches, but most of it found it’s way into the Gandhi family account in the Bank of America in Cayman Islands. Rahul’s expenses and tuition fees for the one year he was at Harvard, was paid from that Cayman Island account [see Annexures-17]. What kind of people are these Gandhi-Mainos that bite the very hand of Bharat Mata that fed them and gave them a good life? How can the nation trust or tolerate such greedy thieves of national treasures? Since I failed to persuade the Vajpayee government to defend India’s treasures from plunder by the Mainos, I approached the Delhi High Court in a PIL. The first Bench of the court issued notice to the Government, but since the Indian government dragged it’s feet, the Court directed the CBI to seek Interpol’s and Italian government’s help. The Italian government justifiably asked for a Letter Rogatory for which a FIR is a pre-requisite. But the Interpol did oblige and submitted two voluminous reports on the shops which the Court directed the CBI to hand over to me. But CBI has so far refused, and has claimed privilege! This question will be argued out at the next hearing of my PIL. The CBI has also been caught lying in court by telling the judges that Alessandra Maino is a name of a man, and Via Bellini 14, Orbassano is a name of a village[not the street address of the Maino’s residence]. Although the CBI counsel had to apologise later to the court stating he had made a mistake, he has been promoted to Additional Solicitor General by the new government! Why was he appointed as the CBI’s counsel by the Vajpayee government in the first place? The Vajpayee-Sonia mutual assistance pact is thus in full view in this episode. But the most sinister aspect of Sonia Gandhi’s links is her connection with terrorists. I am still working on it, but she has had long connection with the Habash group of Palestinians [PFLP], and has funded Palestinian families that lost their kith and kin in a suicide bombing or hijacking episode. This fact, Rajiv Gandhi himself told me and was confirmed to me [the funding aspect] by Yassir Arafat when I met him in Tunis on October 17, 1990 at the request of Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv and I were good friends from 1978, but became very close friends after V.P. Singh had betrayed him in 1987. We met practically every day, mostly in the early hours from 1AM to 4AM, discussed, chatted and gossiped on every topic. It was at my suggestion that Rajiv made Chandrashekhar the PM. And contrary to public impression, he was not mainly responsible for fall of Chandrashekar government[of which I was a Minister]. Besides the Palestinian extremists, the Maino family have had extensive business dealings with Saddam Hussein [see Annexure-18], and surprisingly since 1984 with the LTTE [“the Tamil Tigers”]. Sonia’s mother Paola Predebon Maino, and businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi are the main contacts with the Tigers. The mother used the LTTE for money laundering and Quattrocchi for selling weapons to earn commissions. Sonia’s conduit to the LTTE has been and is through Arjun Singh who uses Bangalore as the nodal point for contact. There is a string of circumstantial evidence pointing to the prima facie possibility that the Maino family may have contracted with the LTTE to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The family may have assured the LTTE that nothing would happen to them because they would ensure it is blamed on the Sikhs or the evidence so much fudged that no court would convict them[ the LTTE intercepted transcripts show this expectation of the LTTE]. But D.R. Karthikeyan of the CBI who led the SIT investigation got the support of Narasimha Rao, cracked the case, and succeeded in getting the LTTE convicted in the trial court, which conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1999. Although on the involvement of some members of the Congress Party in the assassination, DRK soft peddled it ignoring a number of leads perhaps because he did not want political controversy to put road blocks on his investigation as a whole. The Justice J. S. Verma Commission, which was set up as the last official act of the Chandrashekhar government before demitting office on June 21, 1991, did find that the Congress leaders had disrupted the security arrangements for the Sriperumbudur meeting. The Commission wanted further probe into it but the Rao government rejected that demand. In the meantime under Sonia’s pressure, the Jain Commission was set up by the Rao government, which tried to muddy the waters and thus exonerate the LTTE. But the trial court judgment convicting the LTTE came earlier than the Commission could conclude, and that sinister effort therefore too failed. Nowadays, Sonia is quite unabashed in having political alliance with those who like MDMK, PMK, and DMK praise Rajiv Gandhi’s killers. No Indian widow would ever do that. Such circumstances are many, and raise a doubt. My investigations into Sonia’s involvement in Rajiv’s assassination is therefore necessary. I am also author of a best seller titled Assassination Of Rajiv Gandhi—Unasked Questions and Unanswered Queries[published by Konark in 2000] in which I have given some indications of this possible conspiracy. Is it not significant that the political career graph of Sonia Gandhi advances concomitantly with a series of assassinations and apparently accidental deaths? How did Sanjay’s plane on June 23, 1980 nosedive to a crash and yet the plane fuselage failed to explode upon impact? There was no fuel ! How was that possible since flight register shows full tank before take-off ? Why was there no inquiry conducted ? Is it not a fact that Indira Gandhi died because of loss of blood from the wounds and not directly due to a bullet impacting her head or heart ? Then is it not strange that Sonia had insisted that the bleeding Indira be driven to Lohia Hospital-- in the opposite direction to AIIMS which had a contingency protocol set up for precisely such an event ? And after reaching Lohia Hospital, did not Sonia change her mind and demand that they all drive to AIIMS thus losing 24 valuable minutes ? The same kind of mystery surrounds the sudden deaths of Sonia’s other political roadblocks such as Rajesh Pilot, Jitendra Prasad, and Madhavrao Scindia. Such untimely deaths happened in the dark ages in Italy. Should we allow it to happen in India like dumb cattle going to slaughter? WHAT PATRIOTIC INDIANS CAN DO We have to ensure that the Maino clan does not stay in power. Dr. Manmohan Singh may be PM, which is a small relief, but he is not a fighter. The real power in government today is wielded by the Maino mafia gang. Can they be dethroned? I argue that they must be, for India’s integrity and democracy. In Indian democracy, other than by losing majority, only a shocking scandal can unseat a government. Today’s priority is however not for toppling the Congress government as such, since Manmohan Singh is a decent and scholarly person, but in driving the Maino clan out of India. If the only way that can be done is by toppling the Singh government, then so be it. But the successor government should be such that it will not protect Sonia and her clan as Vajpayee’s did. It will although not be long before Sonia will give Manmohan Singh marching orders, and he will march out meekly. We should not expect him to resist. Thus time with patriotic Indians is limited. With Sonia’s defacto government in place, it is also unrealistic to expect that I can get an early victory in the courts on the KGB and antique smuggling cases. The most potent scandal at hand, therefore, that can dislodge the Maino clan[including Rahul and Priyanka] lies in exposing their existing Italian citizenship. That will galvanise the people. In 1992, Sonia had revived her citizenship of Italy under Article 17 of the Italian Citizenship Law [Act 91 of 1992]. Rahul and Priyanka were born Italian citizens because Sonia was Italian when she gave birth to them[Italian law based on jure sanguinis]. (see Annexure-19) Hence, they continue be Italians since they have never renounced their citizenship upon becoming 21 years old. Both, Rahul and Priyanaka have been traveling abroad on Italian passports. They may now acquire Venezuela passports too, since Rahul Gandhi’s wife, Veronica, is a Venezuelan. (See annexure- 20) That means one more foreign bahu for us tolerant Indians. The Maino-Gandhis are certainly getting Indian society globalised in their own selfish way. To end Bharat Mata’s shame and pain, what can patriotic Indians do in a democracy? As a first step there is an urgent need to document the facts about their citizenship on notarized paper, for which we need to set up a network in London, Milan, Hongkong, and in Venezuela. Those persuaded by my above stated facts and arguments may join in and help set up this network. Other steps can come later once this is accomplished. COURTESY -janataparty.org

NATIONAL WETLAND ATLAS: KERALA Space Applications centre Indian Space Research Organisation Ahmedabad –380 015 Sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests Government of India Thispublicationdealswiththeupdateddatabaseandstatusofwetlands,compiledinAtlasformat.Increasingconcernabouthowourwetlandsarebeinginfluencedhasledtoformulationofaprojectentitled“NationalWetlandInventoryandAssessment(NWIA)”tocreateanupdateddatabaseofthewetlandsofIndia.Thewetlandsarecategorisedunder19classesandmappedusingsatelliteremotesensingdatafromIndianRemoteSensingSatellite:IRSP6-LISSIIIsensor.Theresultsareorganisedat1:50,000scalesatdistrict,stateandtopographicmapsheet(SurveyofIndiareference)levelusingGeographicInformationSystem(GIS).ThispublicationisapartofthisnationalworkanddealswiththewetlandstatusofaparticularState/UnionTerritoryofIndia,throughtext,statisticaltables,satelliteimages,mapsandgroundphotographs. Theatlascompriseswetlandinformationarrangedintoninesections.HowtheNWIAprojectworkhasbeenexecutedhighlightedinthefirstsixsectionsviz:Introduction,NWIAproject,Studyarea,Dataused,Methodology,andAccuracy.Thisisthefirsttimethathighresolutiondigitalremotesensingdatahasbeenusedtomapanddecipherthestatusofthewetlandsatnationalscale.ThemethodologyhighlightshowthefourspectralbandsofLISSIIIdata(green,red,nearinfraredandshortwaveinfrared)havebeenusedtoderivevariousindicesanddecipherinformationregardingwaterspread,turbidityandaquaticvegetation.Since,theaimwastogenerateaGIScompatibledatabase,detailsofthestandardsofdatabasearealsohighlightedinthemethodology. Theresultsandfindingareorganisedinthreesections;viz:MapsandStatistics,Majorwetlandtypes,andImportantWetlandsofthearea.TheMapsandStatisticsareshownforstateanddistrictlevel.Itgivesdetailsofwhattypeofwetlandsexistsinthearea,howmanynumbersineachtype,theirareaestimatesinhectare.Since,thehydrologyofwetlandsareinfluencedbymonsoonperformance,extentofwaterspreadandtheirturbidity(qualitative)inwetanddryseason(post-monsoonandpre-monsoonperiod)arealsogiven.Similarlythestatusofaquaticvegetation(mainlyfloatingandemergenttypes)intwoseasonsisalsoaccountedfor.Statusofsmallwetlandsarealsoaccountedasnumbersanddepictedinmapsaspoints.Wetlandmapalsoshowimportantancillaryinformationlikeroads/rail,relevanthabitations.FalseColourComposite(FCC)ofthesatelliteimageused(anyoneseason)isshownalongwiththederivedwetlandmaptogiveafeelingofmanifestationofwetlandsinremotesensingdataandsynopticviewofthearea.ThestatusofsomeoftheimportantwetlandslikeRamsarsites,NationalParksareshownwithrecentfieldphotographs. Forfurtherdetailscontact: Director, SpaceApplicationsCentre,ISRO, AmbawadiVistar(P.O.) Ahmedabad–380015 director@sac.isro.gov.in Atlas SAC/RESA/AFEG/NWIA/ATLAS/14/2010 NATIONAL WETLAND ATLAS KERALA Sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India As a part of the project on National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA) Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad and Kerala State Remote Sensing & Environment Centre, Thiruvananthapuram February 2010 ii First Publication: February 2010, Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad Copyright: 2010, SAC, ISRO This publication may be produced in whole or in part and in any form for education or non-profit uses, without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of source is made. SAC will appreciate a copy of any publication which uses this publication as a source. Citation: National Wetland Atlas: Kerala, SAC/RESA/AFEG/NWIA/ATLAS/14/2010, Space Applications Centre(ISRO), Ahmedabad, India, 130p. Available from: Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad – 380 015, India Production: SAC carried out the work jointly with Kerala State Remote Sensing & Environment Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India. iii It gives me great pleasure to introduce this Atlas, the latest in a series, prepared by Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad in connection with the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment Project. This Atlas maps and catalogues information on Wetlands across India using the latest in satellite imaging, one of the first of its kind. Wetlands are areas of land critical ecological significance that support a large variety of plant and animal species adapted to fluctuating water levels. Their identification and protection becomes very important. Utility-wise, wetlands directly and indirectly support millions of people in providing services such as food, fiber and raw materials. They play important roles in storm and flood control, in supply of clean water, along with other educational and recreational benefits. Despite these benefits, wetlands are the first target of human interference and are among the most threatened of all natural resources. Around 50% of the earth’s wetlands are estimated to already have disappeared worldwide over the last hundred years through conversion to industrial, agricultural and residential purposes. Even in current scenario, when the ecosystem services provided by wetlands are better understood - degradation and conversion of wetlands continues. Aware of their importance, the Government of India has formulated several policies and plans for the conservation and preservation of these crucial ecosystems. Realising the need of an updated geospatial data base of these natural resources as the pre-requisite for management and conservation planning, National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA) project was formulated as a joint vision of Ministry of Environment & Forestry, Govt. India, and Space Applications Centre (ISRO). I am told that the latest remote sensing data from Indian Remote Sensing satellite (IRS P6) have been used to map the wetlands. The present atlas is part of this project and highlights the results of the study state in terms of statistics of various types of wetlands, extent of water, aquatic vegetation and turbidity in pre and post monsoon period. I also note that special efforts are made to provide detailed information of important wetlands like Ramsar sites, National Parks etc. I am certain that this Atlas will raise the bar in developing such database and will be of great use for researchers, planners, policy makers, and also members of the general public. MESSAGE iv v Wetlands defined as areas of land that are either temporarily or permanently covered by water exhibit enormous diversity according to their genesis, geographical location, water regime and chemistry. Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems and play crucial role in hydrological cycle. Utility wise, wetlands directly and indirectly support millions of people in providing services such as storm and flood control, clean water supply, food, fiber and raw materials, scenic beauty, educational and recreational benefits. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimates conservatively that wetlands cover seven percent of the earth’s surface and deliver 45% of the world’s natural productivity and ecosystem services. However, the very existence of these unique resources is under threat due to developmental activities, and population pressure. This calls for a long term planning for preservation and conservation of these resources. An updated and accurate database that will support research and decision is the first step towards this. Use of advanced techniques like Satellite remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS) is now essential for accurate and timely spatial database of large areas. Space Applications Centre (ISRO) took up this challenging task under the project “NWIA” (National Wetland Inventory and Assessment) sponsored by Ministry of Environment & Forests. To account for numerous small yet important wetlands found in the country, mapping at 1:50,000 scales has been taken up. Two date IRS LISS III data acquired during pre and post monsoon season are used for inventory to account for wet and dry season hydrology of wetlands. The map outputs include the status of water spread, aquatic vegetation and turbidity. Ancillary layers like road/rail, habitations are also created. Very small wetlands below the mappable unit are also identified and shown points. The results are complied as Atlases of wetlands for states/Union Territories of India. This Atlas highlights results for a particular state/UT and hopes to improve our understanding of the dynamics and distribution of wetlands and their status in the area. I congratulate the team for bringing out this informative atlas and sincerely hope that this will serve as a useful source of information to researchers, planners and general public. January 25, 2010 FOREWORD vi vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The project “National Wetland Inventory & Assessment (NWIA)”, is sponsored by Ministry of Environment & Forestry (MoEF), Govt. of India and executed by Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad. We are grateful to Dr. Ranganath R. Navalgund, Director, Space Applications Centre, for his encouragement to take up this challenging task and formulation of the project team for timely implementation. Earnest thanks are also due to Dr. Jai Singh Parihar, Dy. Director, Remote Sensing Applications Area, Space Applications Centre, for providing overall guidance and support to the project. The present Atlas for the state of Kerala is a part of the “National Wetland Atlas. This project has benefited from the wisdom of many people. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the contributions made by the wetland experts especially to Prof. C.K. Varshney, Former Dean, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Prof. A.R. Yousuf, The University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Prof. Pradeeep Shrivastava, Head, Wetland Research Centre, Barakatullah University, Bhopal, Dr. Prikshit Gautam, Director, WWF-India, Dr. S. Narendra Prasad, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Nature, Coimbtore and Dr. R.K. Suri, Additional Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and the database experts from ISRO who participated in the peer Review meeting to finalise the “Wetland Classification System” followed in this project We acknowledge the positive role played by 16th SC-B (Standing Committee on Bioresources and Environment) of NNRMS (National Natural Resources Management System) meeting in formulating this project. We are extremely thankful to the members of the“Steering Committee” of the project, under the chairmanship of Dr E J James, Director – Water Institute, Karunya University, for their periodical review, critical comments and appreciation of the efforts by the project team. We are thankful to SC-B under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEF, for periodic review of the progress of the project and guidance towards timely completion of the work. We acknowledge the valuable contributions made by Dr J K Garg, the then scientist of SAC for his active role in formulation of this project, co-authoring the procedure manual document. We are grateful to Dr G V Subramanyam, Adviser, MoEF, for his very active and positive role for implementation of the project. We are thankful to Dr Jag Ram, Director, MoEF and Dr Harendra Kharwal, MoEF for their support in budget and project management related issues. We are thankful to the “Technical Review” team of SAC for critical comments and suggestion to finalise the Atlas. We acknowledge the support received from Dr P S Roy, Dy Director, NRSC and Dr S Sudhakar, Head, LRD, NRSC in terms of valuable suggestions and providing the geo-referenced image of NRC-LU&LC project for use as master image in this project. We acknowledge the efforts put by Dr R D Shah, Mr Pragnesh Kumar Vaishnav and Ms Yatisha P Vaishnav, Geology Department, M G Science Institute, Ahmedabad in finalization of GIS database. viii ix PROJECT TEAM Project Director: Dr. (Mrs) Sushma Panigrahy Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad Shri J. G. Patel Dr T. S. Singh Kerala State Remote Sensing & Environment Centre, Thiruvananthapuram Shri R.P Sharma IFS, Director Smt. R.V Sheeja, Scientist Shri P. Suresh, Scientist Dr. N.C Anilkumar, Scientist Shri Suraj . R, Scientist Smt. Suja Alex, Project Fellow National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad Dr. S. Sudhakar x xi CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Wetlands 1.2 Mapping and geospatial techniques 1.3 Wetland Inventory of India 2.0 NATIONALWETLAND INVENTORY AND ASSESSMENT 2.1 Wetland Classification System 2.2 GIS database contents 3.0 STUDY AREA 4.0 DATA USED 5.0 METHODOLOGY 5.1 Creation of spatial framework 5.2 Geo-referencing of satellite data 5.3 Mapping of wetlands 5.4 Conversion of raster (indices) into a vector layer 5.5 Generation of reference layers 5.6 Coding and attribute scheme 5.7 Map composition and output 6.0 ACCURACY ASSESSMENT 7.0 WETLANDS OF KERALA: MAPS AND STATISTICS 7.1 District-wise Wetland Maps and Statistics 7.1.1 Kasaragod 7.1.2 Kannur 7.1.3 Wayanad 7.1.4 Kozhikode 7.1.5 Malappuram 7.1.6 Palakkad 7.1.7 Thrissur 7.1.8 Ernakulam 7.1.9 Idukki 7.1.10 Kottayam 7.1.11 Alappuzha 7.1.12 Pathanamthitta 7.1.13 Kollam 7.1.14 Thiruvananthapuram 8.0 MAJOR WETLAND TYPES OF KERALA 9.0 IMPORTANT WETLANDS OF KERALA 10.0 SOI SHEET-WISE WETLAND MAPS (selected sheets) References Annexure–I: Definitions of wetland categories used in the project. Annexure–II: Details of district information followed in the atlas List of Figures Figure 1: Spectral Signature of various targets Figure 2: Various land features as they appear in four spectral bands and in a typical three band FCC. Figure 3: Location map Figure 4: Spatial framework of Kerala Figure 5: IRS P6 LISS-III coverage of Kerala Figure 6: IRS LISS-III FCC(Post-monsoon and Pre-monsoon) : Part of Kerala state Figure 7: Flow chart of the methodology used xii Figure 8: Steps in the extraction of wetland components Figure 9: Various combinations of the indices/spectral bands used to identify wetland components Figure 10: Type-wise wetland distribution in Kerala Figure 11: District-wise graphical distribution of wetlands List of Tables Table 1: Wetland Classification System and coding Table-2: Satellite data used Table 3: Qualitative turbidity ratings Table 4: Area estimates of wetlands in Kerala Table-5: District-wise wetland area Table 6: Area estimates of wetlands in Kasaragod Table 7: Area estimates of wetlands in Kannur Table 8: Area estimates of wetlands in Wayanad Table 9: Area estimates of wetlands in Kozhikode Table 10: Area estimates of wetlands in Malappuram Table11: Area estimates of wetlands in Palakkad Table 12: Area estimates of wetlands in Thrissur Table 13: Area estimates of wetlands in Ernakulam Table 14: Area estimates of wetlands in Idukki Table 15: Area estimates of wetlands in Kottayam Table 16: Area estimates of wetlands in Alappuzha Table 17: Area estimates of wetlands in Pathanamthitta Table 18: Area estimates of wetlands in Kollam Table 19: Area estimates of wetlands in Thiruvananthpuram List of Plates Plate-1: Major wetland types of Kerala Plate-2a, 2b and 2c: Field photographs and ground truth data of different wetland types in Kerala Plate 3: Location of important wetland sites of Kerala Plate 4: Ashtamudi Wetland Plate 5: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Ashtamudi Wetland Plate 6: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Ashtamudi Wetland Plate 7: Sasthamkotta Lake Plate 8 Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Sasthamkotta Lake Plate 9: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Sasthamkotta Lake Plate 10: Vembanad-kol Wetland Plate 11: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Vembanad-kol Wetland Plate 12: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Vembanad-kol Wetland Plate 13: Parambikulam Dam Plate 14: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Parambikulam Dam Plate 15: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Parambikulam Dam Plate 16: Periyar Lake Plate 17 Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Periyar Lake Plate 18: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Periyar Lake 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION It is increasingly realized that the planet earth is facing grave environmental problems with fast depleting natural resources and threatening the very existence of most of the ecosystems. Serious concerns are voiced among scientists, planners, sociologists, politicians, and economists to conserve and preserve the natural resources of the world. One of the difficulties most frequently faced for decision making is lack of scientific data of our natural resources. Often the data are sparse or unconvincing, rarely in the form of geospatial database (map), thus open to challenges. Thus, the current thrust of every country is to have an appropriate geospatial database of natural resources that is based on unambiguous scientific methods. The wetland atlas of Kerala, which is part of the National Wetland Atlas of India, is an attempt in this direction. 1.1 Wetlands Wetlands are one of the crucial natural resources. Wetlands are areas of land that are either temporarily or permanently covered by water. This means that a wetland is neither truly aquatic nor terrestrial; it is possible that wetlands can be both at the same time depending on seasonal variability. Thus, wetlands exhibit enormous diversity according to their genesis, geographical location, water regime and chemistry, dominant plants and soil or sediment characteristics. Because of their transitional nature, the boundaries of wetlands are often difficult to define. Wetlands do, however, share a few attributes common to all forms. Of these, hydrological structure (the dynamics of water supply, throughput, storage and loss) is most fundamental to the nature of a wetland system. It is the presence of water for a significant period of time which is principally responsible for the development of a wetland. One of the first widely used classifications systems, devised by Cowardin et al., (1979), was associated to its hydrological, ecological and geological aspects, such as: marine (coastal wetlands including rock shores and coral reefs, estuarine (including deltas, tidal marshes, and mangrove swamps), lacustarine (lakes), riverine (along rivers and streams), palustarine ('marshy'- marshes, swamps and bogs). Given these characteristics, wetlands support a large variety of plant and animal species adapted to fluctuating water levels, making the wetlands of critical ecological significance. Utility wise, wetlands directly and indirectly support millions of people in providing services such as food, fiber and raw materials, storm and flood control, clean water supply, scenic beauty and educational and recreational benefits. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimates conservatively that wetlands cover seven percent of the earth’s surface and deliver 45% of the world’s natural productivity and ecosystem services of which the benefits are estimated at $20 trillion a year (Source : www.MAweb.org). The Millennium Assessment (MA) uses the following typology to categorise ecosystem services: Provisioning services: The resources or products provided by ecosystems, such as food, raw materials (wood), genetic resources, medicinal resources, ornamental resources (skin, shells, flowers). Regulating services: Ecosystems maintain the essential ecological processes and life support systems, like gas and climate regulation, water supply and regulation, waste treatment, pollination, etc. Cultural and Amenity services: Ecosystems are a source of inspiration to human culture and education throughout recreation, cultural, artistic, spiritual and historic information, science and education. Supporting services: Ecosystems provide habitat for flora and fauna in order to maintain biological and genetic diversity. Despite these benefits, wetlands are the first target of human interference and are among the most threatened of all natural resources. Around 50% of the earth’s wetlands is estimated to already have disappeared worldwide over the last hundred years through conversion to industrial, agricultural and residential developments. Even in current scenario, when the ecosystem services provided by wetlands are better understood - degradation and conversion of wetlands continues. This is largely due to the fact that the ‘full value’ of ecosystem functions is often ignored in policy-making, plans and corporate evaluations of development projects. 1.2 Mapping and Geospatial technique To conserve and manage wetland resources, it is important to have inventory of wetlands and their catchments. The ability to store and analyse the data is essential. Digital maps are very powerful tools to achieve this. Maps relating the feature to any given geographical location has a strong visual impact. Maps are thus essential for monitoring and quantifying change over time scale, assist in decision making. The technique used in the preparation of map started with ground survey. The Survey of India (SOI) topographic maps are the earliest true maps of India showing various land use/cover classes including wetlands. Recent years have seen advances in mapping technique to prepare maps with much more information. Of particular importance is the remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technique. Remote sensing is 2 now recognized as an essential tool for viewing, analyzing, characterizing, and making decisions about land, water and atmospheric components. From a general perspective, remote sensing is the science of acquiring and analyzing information about objects or phenomena from a distance (Jensen, 1986; Lillesand and Keifer, 1987). Today, we define satellite remote sensing as the use of satellite borne sensors to observe, measure, and record the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) reflected or emitted by the earth and its environment for subsequent analysis and extraction of information. EMR sensors includes visible light, near-, mid- and far-infrared (thermal), microwave, and long-wave radio energy. The capability of multiple sources of information is unique to remote sensing. Of specific advantage is the spectral, temporal, and spatial resolution. Spectral resolution refers to the width or range of each spectral band being recorded. Since each target affects different wavelengths of incident energy differently, they are absorbed, reflected or transmitted in different proportions. Currently, there are many land resource remote sensing satellites that have sensors operating in the green, red, near infrared and short wave Infra red regions of the electromagnetic spectrum giving a definite spectral signature of various targets due to difference in radiation absorption and reflectance of targets. These sensors are of common use for land cover studies, including wetlands. Figure 1 shows typical spectral signature of few targets from green to SWIR region. Converted to image, in a typical false colour composite (FCC) created using NIR, red and green bands assigned as red, green and blue colour, the features become very distinct as shown in Figure 2. In FCC, the vegetation thus appears invariably red (due to high reflection in NIR from green leaves). Since the early 1960s, numerous satellite sensors have been launched into orbit to observe and monitor the earth and its environment. Most early satellite sensors acquired data for meteorological purposes. The advent of earth resources satellite sensors (those with a primary objective of mapping and monitoring land cover) occurred, when the first Landsat satellite was launched in July 1972. Currently, more than a dozen orbiting satellites of various types provide data crucial to improving our knowledge of the earth’s atmosphere, oceans, ice and snow, and land. Of particular interest to India is the indigenous series of satellites called Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS-Series). Since the launch of the first satellite IRS 1A in 1987, India has now a number of satellites providing data in multi-spectral bands with different spatial resolution. IRS P6/RESOURCESAT 1 is the current generation satellite that provides multi-spectral images in spatial resolution of 5.8 m (LISS IV), 23.5 m (LISS III) and 56m (AWiFS). Over the past few decades, Indian remote sensing data has been successfully used in various fields of natural resources ( Navalgund et al. 2002 ). Development of technologies like Geographic Information System (GIS) has enhanced the use of RS data to obtain accurate geospatial database. GIS specialises in handling related, spatially referenced data, combining mapped information with other data and acts as analytical tool for research and decision making. During the past few decades, technological advances in the field of satellite remote sensing (RS) sensors, computerized mapping techniques, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) has enhanced the ability to capture more detailed and timely information about the natural resources at various scales catering to local, regional, national and global level study. Figure 1: Spectral Signature of various targets 3 Figure 2: Various land features as they appear in four spectral bands and in a typical three band FCC. GREEN RED NIR SWIR NIR RED GREEN LISS-III FCC 4 1.3 Wetland Inventory of India India with its large geographical spread supports large and diverse wetland classes, some of which are unique. Wetlands, variously estimated to be occupying 1-5 per cent of geographical area of the country, support about a fifth of the known biodiversity. Like any other place in the world, there is a looming threat to the aquatic biodiversity of the Indian wetlands as they are often under a regime of unsustainable human pressures. Sustainable management of these assets therefore is highly relevant. Realising this, Govt. of India has initiated many appropriate steps in terms of policies, programmes and plans for the preservation and conservation of these ecosystems. India is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention for management of wetland, for conserving their biodiversity and wise use extending its scope to a wide variety of habitats, including rivers and lakes, coastal lagoons, mangroves, peatlands, coral reefs, and numerous human-made wetland, such as fish and shrimp ponds, farm ponds, irrigated agricultural land, salt pans reservoirs, gravel pits, sewage farms, and canals. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has identified a number of wetlands for conservation and management under the National Wetland Conservation Programme and some financial assistance is being provided to State Governments for various conservation activities through approval of the Management Action Plans. The need to have an updated map database of wetlands that will support such actions has long been realized. Mapping requires a standard classification system. Though there are many classification systems for wetlands in the world, the Ramsar classification system is the most preferred one. The 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat is the oldest conservation convention. It owes its name to its place of adoption in Iran. It came into being due to serious decline in populations of waterfowl (mainly ducks) and conservation of habitats of migratory waterfowl. Convention provides framework for the conservation and ‘wise use’ of wetland biomes. Ramsar convention is the first modern global intergovernmental treaty on conservation and wise use of natural resources (www.ramsar.org). Ramsar convention entered into force in 1975. Under the text of the Convention (Article 1.1) wetlands are defined as: “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters”. In addition, the Convention (Article 2.1) provides that wetlands: “may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six meters at low tide lying within the wetlands”. The first scientific mapping of wetlands of India was carried out during1992-93 by Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad, at the behest of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Govt. of India using remote sensing data from Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS-Series). The mapping was done at 1:250,000 scale using IRS 1A LISS-I/II data of 1992-93 timeframe under the Nation-wide Wetland Mapping Project. Since, no suitable wetland classification existed for comprehensive inventory of wetlands in the country at that time, the project used a classification system based on Ramsar Convention definition of wetlands. The classification considers all parts of a water mass including its ecotonal area as wetland. In addition, fish and shrimp ponds, saltpans, reservoirs, gravel pits were also included as wetlands. This inventory put the wetland extent (inland as well as coastal) at about 8.26 million ha. (Garg et al, 1998). These estimates (24 categories) do not include rice/paddy fields, rivers, canals and irrigation channels. Further updating of wetland maps of India was carried out by SAC using IRS P6/Resourcesat AWiFS data of 2004-05 at 1:250000 scale. In recent years, a conservation atlas has been brought out by Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON, 2004), which provide basic information required by stakeholders in both wetland habitat and species conservation. Space Applications Centre has carried out many pilot projects for development of GIS based wetland information system (Patel et al, 2003) and Lake Information system (Singh et al, 2003). 5 2.0 NATIONAL WETLAND INVENTORY AND ASSESSMENT (NWIA) PROJECT Realising the importance of many small wetlands that dot the Indian landscape, it has been unanimously felt that inventory of the wetlands at 1:50,000 scale is essential. The task seemed challenging in view of the vast geographic area of our country enriched with diverse wetland classes. Space Applications Centre with its experience in use of RS and GIS in the field of wetland studies, took up this challenging task. This is further strengthened by the fact that guidelines to create geospatial framework, codification scheme, data base structure etc. for natural resources survey has already been well established by the initiative of ISRO under various national level mapping projects. With this strength, the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA) project was formulated by SAC, which was approved and funded by MoEF. The main objectives of the project are: • To map the wetlands on 1:50000 scale using two date (pre and post monsoon) IRS LISS III digital data following a standard wetland classification system. • Integration of ancillary theme layers ( road, rail, settlements, drainage, administrative boundaries) • Creation of a seamless database of the states and country in GIS environment. • Preparation of State-wise wetland atlases The project was initiated during 2007. The first task was to have a classification system that can be used by different types of users while amenable to database. An expert/peer group was formed and the peer review was held at SAC on June 2007 where wetland experts and database experts participated and finalized the classification system. It was agreed to follow the classification system that has been used for the earlier project of 1:250,000 scale, with slight modification. Modified National Wetland Classification system for wetland delineation and mapping comprise 19 wetland classes which are organized under a Level III hierarchical system. The definition of each wetland class and its interpretation method was finalized. The technical/procedure manual was prepared as the standard guideline for the project execution across the country (Garg and Patel, 2007). The present atlas is part of the national level data base and deals with the state of Kerala. 2.1 Wetland Classification System In the present project, Modified National Wetland Classification system is used for wetland delineation and mapping comprising 19 wetland classes which are organized under a Level III hierarchical system (Table 1). Level one has two classes: inland and coastal, these are further bifurcated into two categories as: natural and man-made under which the 19 wetland classes are suitably placed. Two date data pertaining to pre-monsoon and post monsoon was used to confirm the classes. Wetlands put to agriculture use in any of the two dates are not included as wetland class. Definitions of wetland categories used in the project is given in Annexure-I. 2.2.1 Spatial Framework and GIS Database The National Spatial Framework) (NSF) has been used as the spatial framework to create the database (Anon. 2007). The database design and creation standard suggested by NRDB/NNRMS guidelines is followed. Feature codification scheme for every input element has been worked out keeping in view the nationwide administrative as well as natural hierarchy (State-district- within the feature class for each of the theme. All data elements are given a unique name, which are self explanatory with short forms. Following wetland layers are generated for each inland wetland:  Wetland extent: As wetlands encompass open water, aquatic vegetation (submerged, floating and emergent), the wetland boundary should ideally include all these. Satellite image gives a clear signature of the wetland extent from the imprint of water spread over the years.  Water spread: There are two layers representing post-monsoon and pre-monsoon water spread during the year of data acquisition. 6  Aquatic vegetation spread: The presence of vegetation in wetlands provides information about its tropic condition. As is known, aquatic vegetation is of four types, viz. benthic, submerged, floating, and emergent. It is possible to delineate last two types of vegetation using optical remote sensing data. A qualitative layer pertaining to presence of vegetation is generated for each season (as manifested on pre-monsoon and post-monsoon imagery).  Turbidity level of open water: A layer pertaining to a qualitative turbidity rating is generated. Three qualitative turbidity ratings ( low, medium and high) is followed for pre and post-monsoon turbidity of lakes, reservoirs, barrages and other large wetlands.  Small wetlands (smaller than minimum mappable unit) are mapped as point features.  Base layers like major road network, railway, settlements, and surface drainage are created (either from the current image or taken from other project data base). In the case of coastal wetlands only wetland extent is given. Table 1: Wetland Classification System and coding Wettcode* Level I Level II Level III 1000 Inland Wetlands 1100 Natural 1101 Lakes 1102 Ox-Bow Lakes/ Cut-Off Meanders 1103 High altitude Wetlands 1104 Riverine Wetlands 1105 Waterlogged 1106 River/stream 1200 Man-made 1201 Reservoirs/ Barrages 1202 Tanks/Ponds 1203 Waterlogged 1204 Salt pans 2000 Coastal Wetlands 2100 Natural 2101 Lagoons 2102 Creeks 2103 Sand/Beach 2104 Intertidal mud flats 2105 Salt Marsh 2106 Mangroves 2107 Coral Reefs 2200 Man-made 2201 Salt pans 2202 Aquaculture ponds * Wetland type code 7 3.0 STUDY AREA Kerala is located on the southernmost tip of India and embraces the coast of Arabian Sea on the west and is bounded by the Western Ghats in the east extending from 80 17’ and 120 48’ north latitude and 740 51’ and 770 20’ east longitude (Figure 3). Kerala also encloses Mahe, Pondicherry’s coastal exclave. With 14 districts and other cities the total area of Kerala is 38, 916 sq km. This South Indian state stretches from north to south along the coast line of 580 kms with an approximate breadth of 35 to 120 km. Though small in size, Kerala is a land affluent in water sources. 44 rivers drain the land, of which 41 are west flowing and 3 flow east. Apart from these 44 rivers, their tributaries and distributaries and a countless number of streams and rivulets crisscross the land making it green and fertile and also serves as inland waterways. Major rivers include Pampa, Periyar, Achenkovil, Manimala, Bharathapuzha, Chalakudy, Valapatanam, Kallayi, Meenachil, Muvattupuzha, Mogral. Beside these rivers, Kerala is bestowed with a number of lakes and backwater lagoon which add to the beauty of the land. The important wetlands of Kerala are Ashtamudi Lake, Vembanad Lake and Sasthamkotta Lake. Vembanad backwater lake is the largest in the state while Sasthamkotta lake is the largest natural fresh water lake. The other important backwaters are Anjengo, Veli, Edava, Kadinakulam, Nadayara, Kayamkulam, Paravoor, Kowai and Chotwa. Kerala has the finest beaches like Kovalam, Shangumugham, Varkala, Cherai, Fort Cochin, Kappad, and Bekkel. Reservoirs are the major wetlands that form the source of hydroelectricity. Major reservoirs include Neyyar,Peppara, Kallar, Kakki, Idukki, and Walayar. Kerala has hot and humid climate during April-May and pleasant, cold climate in December-January. Summer extends from the month of April to June when the temperature reaches to a maximum of 370. Summer is followed by Southwest monsoon that starts pouring in the month of June and continues till September. Winter in Kerala lasts from November to January or February. Southwest monsoon and retreating monsoon (Northeast monsoon) are the main rainy seasons. Kerala receives an average rainfall of 118 inches (3,000 mm) annually. The state has fourteen districts and is covered in 86 Survey of India topographical maps on 1:50,000 scale that form the spatial frame work for mapping (Figure 4). The spatial framework was prepared using 15’ x 15’ grid. A detail of district information followed in the atlas is given in Annexure-II. 8 Figure 3: Location Map Figure 4: Spatial Framework of Kerala 9 4.0 DATA USED Remote sensing data IRS P6 LISS III data was used to map the wetlands. IRS P6 LISS III provides data in 4 spectral bands; green, red, Near Infra Red (NIR) and Short wave Infra Red (SWIR), with 23.5 m spatial resolution and 24 day repeat cycle. The spatial resolution is suitable for 1:50,000 scale mapping. The state of Kerala is covered in 9 IRS LISS III scene (Figure 5). Two date data, one acquired during March and another during January were used to capture the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon hydrological variability of the wetlands respectively (Table-2). Figure 5 shows the overview of the part of Kerala as seen in the LISS III FCC of post- monsoon pre-monsoon data respectively. Figure 5: IRS P6 LISS-III coverage (path-row) of Kerala Table-2: Satellite data used Sr. No Resourcesat LISS III Path Row Post-Monsoon Pre-Monsoon 1 97-64 January 5, 2007 March 13, 2006 2 98-64 December 7, 2006 May 10, 2005 3 98-65 December 7, 2006 January 5, 2007 & January 29, 2006 4 99-65 December 17, 2005 February 27, 2006 & March 23, 2007 5 99-66 January 5, 2007 February 27, 2006 6 99-67 February 27, 2006 February 27, 2006 7 100-66 March 23, 2007 March 28, 2006 8 100-67 February 13, 2005 March 23, 2007 9 100-68 February 13, 2005 March 28, 2007 Ground truth data Remote sensing techniques require certain amount of field observation called “ground truth” in order to convert into meaningful information. Such work involves visiting a number of test sites, usually taking the satellite data. The location of the features is recorded using the GPS. The standard proforma as per the NWIA manual was used to record the field data. Field photographs are also taken to record the water quality (subjective), status of aquatic vegetation and water spread. All field verification work has been done during October and November 2008. Other data Survey of India topographical maps (SOI) were used for reference purpose. Lineage data of National Wetland Maps at 1:250,000 scale was used for reference. 10 5.0 METHODOLOGY The methodology to create the state level atlas of wetlands is adhered to NWIA technical guidelines and procedure manual (Garg and Patel, 2007). The overview of the steps used is shown in Figure 7. Salient features of methodology adopted are • Generation of spatial framework in GIS environment for database creation and organisation. • Geo-referencing of satellite data • Identification of wetland classes as per the classification system given in NWIA Manual and mapping of the classes using a knowledge based digital classification and onscreen interpretation • Generation of base layers (rail, road network, settlements, drainage, administrative boundaries) from satellite image and ancillary data. • Mosaicing/edge matching to create district and state level database. • Coding of the wetlands following the standard classification system and codification as per NWIA manual. • Preparation of map compositions and generation of statistics • Outputs on A3 size prints and charts for atlas. Work was carried out using ERDAS Imagine, Arc/Info and Arcgis softwares. 5.1 Creation of spatial framework This is the most important task as the state forms a part of the national frame work and is covered in multiple map sheets. To create NWIA database, NNRMS/NRDB standards is followed and four corners of the 1:50,000 (15’ x 15’) grid is taken as the tics or registration points to create each map taking master grid as the reference. Spatial framework details are given in NWIA manual (Garg and Patel 2007). The spatial framework for Kerala state is shown in Figure 4. 5.2 Geo-referencing of satellite data In this step the raw satellite images were converted to specific map projection using geometric correction. This is done using archived geometrically corrected LISS III data (ISRO-NRC-land use / land cover project ). Standard image processing software was used for geo-referencing. First one date data was registered with the archived image. The second date data was then registered with the first date data. 5.3 Mapping of wetlands The delineation of wetlands through image analysis forms the foundation for deriving all wetland classes and results. Consequently, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the quality of the image Interpretation. In the present study, the mapping of wetlands was done following digital classification and onscreen visual interpretation. Wetlands were identified based on vegetation, visible hydrology and geography. There are various methods for extraction of water information from remote sensing imagery, which according to the number of bands used, are generally divided into two categories, i.e. Single-band and multi-band methods. Single-band method usually involves choosing a band from multi-spectral image to distinguish water from land by subjective threshold values. It may lead to over- or under-estimation of open water area. Multi-band method takes advantage of reflective differences of each band. In this project, five indices known in literature that enhances various wetland characteristics were used (McFeetres, 1986; Xu Hanqiu, 2006; Lacaux et al, 2007; Townshend and Justice, 1986; Tucker and Sellers, 1986) as given below: i) Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) = (Green-NIR) / (Green + NIR) ii) Modified Normalised Difference Water Index (MNDWI) = (Green-MIR) / (Green + MIR) iii) Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) = (NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red) iv) Normalised Difference Pond Index (NDPI) = (MIR – Green / MIR + Green) v) Normalised Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) = (Red – Green) / (Red + Green) 11 Figure 6: IRS LISS-III FCC: Part of Kerala state December 7, 2006 January 5, 2007 12 The indices were generated using standard image processing software, stacked as layers (Figure 8). Various combinations of the indices/spectral bands were used to identify the wetland features as shown in Figure 9. The following indices were used for various layer extractions: • Extraction of wetland extent : MNDWI, NDPI and NDVI image was used to extract the wetland boundary through suitable hierarchical thresholds. • Extraction of open water : MNDWI was used within the wetland mask to delineate the water and no-water areas. • Extraction of wetland vegetation : NDPI and NDVI image was used to generate the vegetation and no-vegetation areas within a wetland using a suitable threshold. • Turbidity information extraction : NDTI and MNDWI image was used to generate qualitative turbidity level (high, moderate and low) based on signature statistics and standard deviations. In the False Colour Composite (FCC) these generally appear in different hues (Table-3). Table 3: Qualitative turbidity ratings Sr. No. Qualitative Turbidity Conditional criteria Hue on False Colour Composite (FCC) 1. Low > +1σ Dark blue/blackish 2. Moderate > -1σ to <= +1σ Medium blue 3. High/Bottom reflectance <= μ - 1σ Light blue/whitish blue 5.4 Conversion of the raster (indices) into a vector layer The information on wetland extent, open water extent, vegetation extent and turbidity information was converted into vector layers using region growing properties or on-screen digitisation. 5.5 Generation of reference layers Base layers like major rail, road network, settlements, drainage are interpreted from the current image or taken from other project database. The administrative boundaries (district, state) are taken from the known reference data. 5.6 Coding and attribute scheme Feature codification scheme for every input element has been worked out keeping in view the nationwide administrative as well as natural hierarchy (State-district-taluka) within the feature class for each of the theme. All data elements are given a unique name/code, which are self explanatory with short forms. 5.7 Map composition and output Map composition for atlas has been done at district and state level. A standard color scheme has been used for the wetland classes and other layers. The digital files are made at 1:50,000 scale. The hard copy outputs are taken on A3 size. 13 Figure 7: Flow chart of the methodology used Figure 8: Steps in the extraction of wetland components Legacy data Spatial frame work On-screen interpretation/ Digital analysis Geo-referenced images GIS DATABASE (Wetland layers, Base layers) Biological (Wetland vegetation) Physical (Wetland type) Ground truth Morphometric (Wetland extent) IRS P6 LISS III pre and post-monsoon data NWIA Database Organisation (District, State, Country) Analysis Atlases/Report Base layers (Road, Settlement, drainage) SOI topographic maps Admin. Boundaries (State, District) Quality Check Accuracy Assessment/ Quality Check 14 6.0 ACCURACY ASSESSMENT A comprehensive accuracy assessment protocol has been followed for determining the quality of information derived from remotely sensed data. Accuracy assessment involves determination of thematic (classification) as well as locational accuracy. In addition, GIS database(s) contents have been also evaluated for accuracy. To ensure the reliability of wetland status data, the project adhered to established quality assurance and quality control measures for data collection, analysis, verification and reporting. This study used well established, time-tested, fully documented data collection conventions. It employed skilled and trained personnel for image interpretation, processing and digital database creation. All interpreted imageries were reviewed by technical expert team for accuracy and code. The reviewing analyst adhered to all standards, quality requirements and technical specifications and reviewed 100 percent of the work. The various stages of quality check include: 1. Image-to-Image Geo-referencing/Data generation 2. Reference layer preparation using NWIA post monsoon and pre-monsoon LISS-III data. 3. Wetland mapping using visual/digital interpretation techniques. 4. Geo-data base creation and organization 5. Output products. 6.1 Data verification and quality assurance of output digital data files All digital data files were subjected to rigorous quality control inspections. Digital data verification included quality control checks that addressed the geospatial correctness, digital integrity and some cartographic aspects of the data. Implementation of quality checks ensured that the data conformed to the specified criteria, thus achieving the project objectives. There were tremendous advantages in using newer technologies to store and analyze the geographic data. The geospatial analysis capability built into this study provided a complete digital database to better assist analysis of wetland change information. All digital data files were subjected to rigorous quality control inspections. Automated checking modules incorporated in the geographic information system (Arc/GIS) were used to correct digital artifacts including polygon topology. Additional customized data inspections were made to ensure that the changes indicated at the image interpretation stage were properly executed. 15 Figure 9: Various combinations of the indices/spectral bands used to identify wetland components MNDWI NDPI NDVI IRS LISS III data, 07 January, 2007 G R SWIR G R NIR NDWI NDVI NDPI MNDWI MNDWI NDTI Useful for wetland boundary extraction/delineation Useful for wetland vegetation & open water features Useful for qualitative turbidity delineation Open water Moderate Vegetation 16 17 MAPS AND STATISTICS 18 19 7.0 WETLANDS OF KERALA: MAPS AND STATISTICS Area estimates of various wetland categories for Kerala have been carried out using GIS layers of wetland boundary, water-spread, aquatic vegetation and turbidity. In the state of Kerala 1762 wetlands have been delineated. In addition, 2592 wetlands smaller than 2.25 ha have also been identified. Total wetland area estimated is 160590 ha (Table 4). The major wetland types are River/Stream (65162 ha), Lagoons (38442 ha), Reservoirs (26167 ha) and waterlogged (20305 ha). Graphical distribution of wetland type is shown in Figure 10. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 88 and 83 per cent of wetland area is under open water category during post monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 8 and 6 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Table 4: Area estimates of wetlands in Kerala Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1101 Lakes/Ponds 3 2643 1.65 2259 2125 2 1104 Riverine wetlands 18 410 0.26 410 410 3 1105 Waterlogged 922 20305 12.64 11495 7771 4 1106 River/Stream 172 65162 40.58 61853 60338 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 5 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 39 26167 16.29 24583 23421 6 1202 Tanks/Ponds 439 2435 1.52 1466 530 Total - Inland 1593 117122 72.93 102066 94595 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 7 2101 Lagoons 39 38442 23.94 36819 35796 8 2102 Creeks 19 80 0.05 77 77 9 2103 Sand/Beach 111 2354 1.47 0 0 Total - Coastal 169 40876 25.45 36896 35873 Sub-Total 1762 157998 98.39 138962 130468 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 2592 2592 1.61 - - Total 4354 160590 100.00 138962 130468 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 13364 8925 Area under turbidity levels Low 102026 94722 Moderate 36501 35119 High 435 627 Figure 10: Type-wise wetland distribution in Kerala 41%24%17%13%2%2%1%River/StreamLagoonsReservoirs/BarragesWaterloggedLakes/PondsTanks/PondsSand/Beach 20 7.1 DISTRICT-WISE WETLAND MAPS AND STATISTICS The state has fourteen districts. District-wise distribution of wetlands showed that four districts can be called as wetland rich. Alappuzha has highest concentration with 26079 ha area under wetland. This is mainly due to the location of the famous Vembnad kol wetland. The other three districts are Ernakulam (25065 ha), Kollam (13703 ha) and Thrissur (13285 ha). Wayanad district has the lowest area under wetland (3866 ha). District-wise wetland area estimate is given in Table-5. Figure 11 shows district-wise graphical distribution of wetlands. Wetland statistics followed by wetland map and corresponding satellite data for each district is given to have a fairly good idea about the distribution pattern and density of wetlands in the district. Table-5: District-wise wetland area Sr. No. District Geographic Area Wetland Area % of total wetland area % of district geographic area (sq. km) (ha) 1 Kasaragod 1961 7561 4.71 3.86 2 Kannur 2997 10870 6.77 3.63 3 Wayanad 2132 3866 2.41 1.81 4 Kozhikode 2345 7690 4.79 3.28 5 Malappuram 3548 9511 5.92 2.68 6 Palakkad 4480 11892 7.41 2.65 7 Thrissur 3032 13285 8.27 4.38 8 Ernakulam 2408 25065 15.61 10.41 9 Idukki 4998 10655 6.63 2.13 10 Kottayam 2204 9523 5.93 4.32 11 Alappuzha 1256 26079 16.24 20.76 12 Pathanamthitta 2731 4948 3.08 1.81 13 Kollam 2579 13703 8.53 5.31 14 Thiruvananthapuram 2192 5942 3.70 2.71 Total 38863 160590 100.00 050001000015000200002500030000KasaragodKannurWayanadKozhikodeMalappuramPalakkadThrissurErnakulamIdukkiKottayamAlappuzhaPathanamhittaKollamThiruvananthapuramDistrictsWetland Area ( ha) Figure 11: District-wise graphical distribution of wetlands 21 22 23 24 7.1.1 Kasaragod This is the northern most district of Kerala and is named after Kasaragod Town which is the administrative headquarters of the district. To its south lies Kannur District and to the north the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state. The total geographic area of Kasaragod district is 1961 sq km. The district has Arabian sea to the west and Western ghats to the east. Kasaragod lies between latitudes 12° 2′ to 12° 48′ N to logitudes 74°51′ to 75° 26’ East. It has an average elevation of 19 metres (62 feet). As of 2001 India census, Kasaragod had a population of 12,04,078. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Kasaragod has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 76%. The wetland area estimated is 7561 ha which includes 146 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details of the wetland statistics of the district is given in Table 6. The major wetland types are river/stream, lagoons and sand/beach. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 87 and 80 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 2 and 1 per cent of wetland area during post-and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 6: Area estimates of wetlands in Kasaragod Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 25 155 2.05 57 30 2 1106 River/Stream 55 5007 66.22 4751 4244 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1202 Tanks/Ponds 8 35 0.46 1 1 Total - Inland 88 5197 68.73 4809 4275 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 4 2101 Lagoons 1 1775 23.48 1632 1626 5 2103 Sand/Beach 14 443 5.86 0 0 Total - Coastal 15 2218 29.33 1632 1626 Sub-Total 103 7415 98.07 6441 5901 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 146 146 1.93 - - Total 249 7561 100.00 6441 5901 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 159 93 Area under turbidity levels Low 411 253 Moderate 6032 5647 High - - 25 26 27 28 7.1.2 Kannur Kannur town is the district headquarters, and gives the district its name Kannur. The total geographic area of Kannur district is 2,997 sq km, has an urban population of 12,12,898, which is the second largest in Kerala after Ernakulam district with 50% of its residents living in urban agglomerations and total population of 23,87,468 (2001 census). Literacy as per the 2001 census is put at 88.61%. The district lies between latitudes 11° 40' to 12° 48' North and longitudes 74° 52' to 76° 07' East. Six rivers drain Kannur district, the longest being the Valapattanam river with a length of 110 km. Other rivers flowing through the district are Kuppam, Mahe River, Anjarakandi, Thalassery, Ramapuram and district has several beaches, some of which are Payyambalam , Muzhappilangad Drive-in Beach, Dharmadam Island. The wetland area estimated is 10870 ha which includes 57 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha) in the district. Details are given in Table 7. The major wetland types are River/Stream, waterlogged, lagoons and riverine wetlands. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 85 and 83 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 11 and 6 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 7: Area estimates of wetlands in Kannur Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1104 Riverine Wetlands 14 316 2.91 316 316 2 1105 Waterlogged 67 1544 14.20 384 210 3 1106 River/Stream 55 7590 69.83 7444 7400 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 4 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 1 553 5.09 543 544 5 1202 Tanks/Ponds 9 66 0.61 38 45 Total - Inland 146 10069 92.63 8725 8515 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 6 2101 Lagoons 2 434 3.99 433 433 7 2103 Sand/Beach 20 310 2.85 0 0 Total - Coastal 22 744 6.84 433 433 Sub-Total 168 10813 99.48 9158 8948 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 57 57 0.52 - - Total 225 10870 100.00 9158 8948 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 1194 639 Area under turbidity levels Low 7186 7138 Moderate 1972 1810 High - - 29 30 31 32 7.1.3 Wayanad Wayanad district stands on the southern top of the Deccan plateau and its chief glory is the majestic rugged terrain of the Western ghats, with lofty ridges interspersed with dense forest, tangled jungles and deep valleys. Quite a large area of the district is covered by forest but the continued and indiscriminate exploitation of the natural resources point towards an imminent environmental crisis. The total geographic area of Wayanad district is 2132 sq km, has a population of of 7,73,924 (2001 census). The Kabini River, one of the three east flowing rivers of Kerala, is an important tributary of the Kaveri River. Almost the entire Wayanad district is drained by Kabini and its three tributaries, the Panamaram, Mananthavady, and Kalindy rivers. The Banasura Sagar Dam is built on one of tributaries of the Kabini River. The wetland area estimated is 3866 ha. which includes 36 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 8. The major wetland types are River/Stream, tanks/ponds and lagoons. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 92 and 84 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 9 and 4 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Table 8: Area estimates of wetlands in Wayanad Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 4 10 0.26 6 0 2 1106 River/Stream 17 1837 47.52 1822 1741 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 2 1946 50.34 1650 1483 4 1202 Tanks/Ponds 14 37 0.96 30 0 Sub-Total 37 3830 99.07 3508 3224 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 36 36 0.93 - - Total 73 3866 100.00 3508 3224 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 328 163 Area under turbidity levels Low 3502 2733 Moderate 6 491 High - - 33 34 35 36 7.1.4 Kozhikode Kozhikode District is a district of Kerala state, situated on the southwest coast of India. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 38.25% urbanised. Kozhikode district is bordered by the districts of Kannur to the north, Wayanad to the east, and Malappuram to the south.The Arabian Sea lies to the west. It is situated between latitudes 11° 08'N and 11° 50'N and longitudes 75° 30'E and 76° 8'E. The total geographic area of Kozhikode district is 2,345 sq km, has a population of 65,18,673 (2001 census) with an extended metropolitan population of about 0.9 million, making it the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala. There are a number of rivers and lakes in the district. Chaliyar puzha, Kallayi Puzha, Korapuzha, Poonoor puzha, and Iravanjhi puzha are some among them. Kozhikode has an average literacy rate of 92.24%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 96.11% and female literacy is 88.62%. The wetland area estimated is 7690 ha. which includes 117 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 9. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages, and tanks/ponds. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 91 and 90 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 5 and 3 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 9: Area estimates of wetlands in Kozhikode Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1104 Riverine wetlands 4 94 1.22 94 94 2 1105 Waterlogged 17 161 2.09 90 63 3 1106 River/Stream 27 5514 71.70 5507 5503 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 4 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 2 1261 16.40 1034 1082 5 1202 Tanks/Ponds 30 277 3.60 159 83 Total - Inland 80 7307 95.02 6884 6825 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 6 2102 Creeks 5 18 0.00 17 17 7 2103 Sand/Beach 24 248 0.00 0 0 Total - Coastal 29 266 3.46 17 17 Sub-Total 109 7573 98.48 6901 6842 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 117 117 1.52 - - Total 226 7690 100.00 6901 6842 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 388 249 Area under turbidity levels Low 6699 6666 Moderate 202 176 High - - 37 38 39 40 7.1.5 Malappuram Malappuram District district lies in northern Kerala, and is bounded on the north by Wayanad and Kozhikkode districts, on the northeast by Tamil Nadu, on the southeast and south by Palakkad District, on the southwest by Thrissur District, on the west by the Arabian Sea, and on the northwest by Kozhikode District The total geographic area of Malappuram district is 3,548 sq km, has a population of 36,29,640 (2001 census). The male: female ratio of 1063 females for every 1000 males (higher than the state average of 1058 females for 1000 males). Four important rivers of Kerala, flow through Malappuram district. They are Chaliyar (Beypore river), Kadalundipuzha, Bharathapuzha and Tirurpuzha. Chaliyar has a length of 169 km and originates from Illambalieri hills in Tamilnadu, important tributaries of this river are Chalipuzha, Punnapuzha, Pandiyar, Karimpuzha, Cherupuzha and Vadapurampuzha. Chaliyar traverses through Nilambur, Mampad, Edavanna, Areekade, Vazhakkad and flows into the sea at Beypore in Kozhikode district. Kadalundipuzha is formed by the confluence of two rivers, the Olipuzha and Veliyar. Olipuzha originates form Cherakomban hill and Veliyar from Erattakomban hill. They flow through the Silent Valley and traverse through Ernad and Valluvanad regions, before flowing into the sea at Kadalundi Nagaram. It passes through places like Melattur, Pandikkad, Malappuram, Pankkad, Parappur, Kooriyad and Tirurangadi. Kadalundipuzha has a circuit course of 130 km. Of these rivers, only Chaliyar is perennial. The other rivers dry up in summer. This is one of the reasons that Malappuram district is prone to draught. The wetland area estimated is 9511 ha. Small wetlands, which are less than minimum mapable units, are 175 in the district. Details are given in Table 10. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Waterlogged and lagoons. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 73 and 63 per cent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 10 and 11 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 10: Area estimates of wetlands in Malappuram Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 46 832 8.75 366 106 2 1106 River/Stream 65 6979 73.38 5715 5679 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1202 Tanks/Ponds 35 232 2.44 49 2 Total - Inland 146 8043 84.57 6130 5787 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 4 2101 Lagoons 1 1012 10.64 721 119 5 2103 Sand/Beach 12 281 2.95 0 0 Total - Coastal 13 1293 13.59 721 119 Sub-Total 159 9336 98.16 6851 5906 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 175 175 1.84 - - Total 334 9511 100.00 6851 5906 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 948 1086 Area under turbidity levels Low 6293 5609 Moderate 558 297 High - - 41 42 43 44 7.1.6 Palakkad Palakkad district is one of the 14 districts of Kerala state in South India. The city of Palakkad is the district headquarters. Palakkad is bordered on the northwest by the Malappuram district and on the southwest by the Thrissur district. To the east lies the Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu. It is a predominantly rural district. Palakkad is the gateway to Kerala due to the presence of Palakkad Gap, in the Western Ghats. The total geographic area of Palakkad district is 4480 km² which is 11.5% of the state's area and has a population of 26,17,232 (2001 census). The district is nicknamed "the granary of Kerala". The Bharatha Puzha river originates in the Palakkad Gap from rivulets and tributaries feeding from steep escarpment slopes along the flanks of Palakkad Gap is a 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles) wide low mountain pass in the Western Ghats, near Palakkad town in the South Indian State of Kerala. Most parts of the district fall in the midland region (elevation 75–250 m), except the Nelliampathy-Parambikulam area in the Chittur taluk in the south and Attappadi-Malampuzha area in the north, which are hilly and fall in the highland region (elevation >250 m). Some of the notable peaks in the district are Anginda (2325 m), Karimala (1998 m), Nellikotta or Padagiri (1585 m) and Karimala Gopuram (1439 m).The climate is hot and humid for most part of the year. The district is blessed with many small and medium rivers, which are tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River. A number of dams have been built across these rivers, the largest being Malampuzha dam. The largest in volume capacity is the Parambikulam Dam. The wetland area estimated is 11892 ha. which includes 722 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 11. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages and tanks/ponds. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 89 and 81 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 2 and 1 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 11: Area estimates of wetlands in Palakkad Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 14 245 2.06 93 5 2 1106 River/Stream 29 5270 44.32 4216 4217 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 11 5477 46.06 5384 4771 4 1202 Tanks/Ponds 73 178 1.50 284 60 Sub-Total 127 11170 93.93 9977 9053 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 722 722 6.07 - - Total 849 11892 100.00 9977 9053 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 247 161 Area under turbidity levels Low 8829 7847 Moderate 948 1006 High 200 200 45 46 47 48 7.1.7 Thrissur Thrissur district is situated in the central region of the state of Kerala. The total geographic area of Thrissur district is 3,032 sq km, has a population of 29,74,024 (2001 census). Males constitute 48.6% and females constitute 51.4% of the total population. The wetland area estimated is 13285 ha. Small wetlands, which are less than minimum mapable units, are 271 in the district. Details are given in Table 12. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages, Waterlogged and sand/beach. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 84 and 69 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 12 and 5 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 12: Area estimates of wetlands in Thrissur Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 126 2990 22.51 1668 560 2 1106 River/Stream 26 6451 48.56 6108 5967 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 7 3027 22.79 2988 2429 4 1202 Tanks/Ponds 91 294 2.21 184 14 Total - Inland 250 12762 96.06 10948 8970 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 5 2101 Lagoons 1 4 0.03 0 0 6 2103 Sand/Beach 7 248 1.87 0 0 Total - Coastal 8 252 1.90 0 0 Sub-Total 258 13014 97.96 10948 8970 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 271 271 2.04 - - Total 529 13285 100.00 10948 8970 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 1504 595 Area under turbidity levels Low 8933 7491 Moderate 2015 1479 High - - 49 50 51 52 7.1.8 Ernakulam The total geographic area of Ernakulam district is 2,408 sq km, has a population of 30,36,009 (2001 census). District can be divided geographically into highland with altitude of about 300 m, midland, low land with 20 percent of the total area region and coastal area. is. The midland consists mainly of plain land having natural facilities of drainage via backwaters and canals. The hilly or eastern portion is formed by a section of Western Ghats. Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalm and Aluva can be called the highlands.The borders of the district are the Arabian Sea in the west, Thrissur District in the north, Idukki District in the east, and Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in the south. The Periyar River, Kerala's second longest river, flows through all the taluks except Muvattupuzha. The Muvattupuzha River and a branch of Chalakkudy River also flow through the district. Muvattupuzha and Periyar are the main rivers of which the latter flows through Thodupuzha, Muvattupuzha, Aluva, Kunnathunadu and Parur taluks. During rainy season these rivers are full and heavy floods affect the low-lying areas on the banks, but in the summer season they generally go dry and narrow. The Periyar is stretched over a length of 229 km. The wetland area estimated is 25065 ha. which includes 133 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha) in the district. Details are given in Table 13. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages, Waterlogged and Lagoons. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 94 and 91 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 5 and 6 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 13: Area estimates of wetlands in Ernakulam Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 145 4662 18.60 3628 3426 2 1106 River/Stream 44 8729 34.83 8683 8567 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 2 3448 13.76 3361 3274 4 1202 Tanks/Ponds 18 84 0.34 66 2 Total - Inland 209 16923 67.52 15738 15269 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 5 2101 Lagoons 8 7898 31.51 7593 7507 6 2103 Sand/Beach 4 111 0.44 0 0 Total - Coastal 12 8009 31.95 7593 7507 Sub-Total 221 24932 99.47 23331 22776 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 133 133 0.53 - - Total 354 25065 100.00 23331 22776 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 1334 1450 Area under turbidity levels Low 18736 15782 Moderate 4595 6994 High - - 53 54 55 56 7.1.9 Idukki The total geographic area of Idukki district is 4,998 sq km and is the second largest District of Kerala with total population of 11,28,205 (2001 census). Rugged mountains and forests cover about 97 per cent of the total area of the district. The district borders Pathanamthitta to the south, Kottayam to the southwest, Ernakulam to the northwest and Thrissur to the north and Coimbature, Dindigul and Theni districts in Tamilnadu to the east. Anamudi, the highest peak is in the Kuttampuzha Panchayat of Adimali Block, in the K.D.H Village of Devikulam taluk. 13 other peaks in the district exceed a height of 2,000 m (6,562 ft). The Periyar, Thodupuzhayar and Thalayar are the important rivers of the district. Idukki the hilly district of the state, has many unique topographical and geographical characteristics. It is also known spice bowl of South India. The wetland area estimated is 10655 ha. which includes 92 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha) in the district. Details are given in Table 14. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages, and Lakes/Ponds. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 96 and 93 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 5 and 1 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 14: Area estimates of wetlands in Idukki Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-Monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1101 Lakes/Ponds 1 2042 19.16 1658 1525 2 1105 Waterlogged 7 25 0.23 25 16 3 1106 River/Stream 34 2776 26.05 2770 2769 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 4 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 7 5613 52.68 5550 5500 5 1202 Tanks/Ponds 29 107 1.00 93 6 Sub-Total 78 10563 99.14 10096 9816 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 92 92 0.86 - - Total 170 10655 100.00 10096 9816 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 469 133 Area under turbidity levels Low 7153 7034 Moderate 2943 2782 High - - 57 58 59 60 7.1.10 Kottayam The district has its headquarters at Kottayam town and lies between latitudes 9.36° N and longitudes 76.17° E. The total geographic area of Kottayam district is 2,204 sq km. Bordered by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west, Kottayam has many unique characteristics. Panoramic backwater stretches, lush paddy fields, highlands, hills and hillocks, rubber plantations. Kottayam town is situated in the basin of the Meenachil River which is formed from several streams in the Western Ghats in Idukki district. It flows through Kottayam district and joins Vembanad Lake. It is the first district to achieve highest literacy rate in the whole of India. The district is 15.35% urbanised. As of 2001 India census, Kottayam Urban Agglomeration had a population of 1,72,878, while Kottayam district had a population of 19,52,901. It is one of the very few places which witnessed a negative population growth from 1991 to 2001. This district has marked lowest decadal population growth rates of 6.76% compared to 9.42% for Kerala. The wetland area estimated is 9523 ha. which includes 66 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 15. The major wetland types are Lagoons, River/Stream and Waterlogged. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 96 and 95 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 4 and 1 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Table 15: Area estimates of wetlands in Kottayam Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 60 405 4.25 54 74 2 1106 River/Stream 24 3826 40.18 3824 3800 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1202 Tanks/Ponds 18 30 0.00 21 0 Total - Inland 102 4261 44 3899 3874 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 4 2101 Lagoons 3 5196 54.56 5187 5168 Total - Coastal 3 5196 54.56 5187 5168 Sub-Total 105 9457 99 9086 9042 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 66 66 0.69 - - Total 171 9523 100 9086 9042 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 401 129 Area under turbidity levels Low 6894 6852 Moderate 2192 2190 High - - 61 62 63 64 7.1.11 Alappuzha Alappuzha, also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha district of Kerala state. A town with canals, backwaters, beaches, and lagoons. Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala with the unending stretch of paddy fields, small streams and canals with lush green coconut palms, was well known even from the early periods of the Sangam age. The total geographic area of Alappuzha district is 1,256 sq km. As of 2001 India census, Alappuzha had a population of 20,63,491. Alappuzha has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. It has the highest population density among all districts of the state. The city is located between 9.50° North Latitude and 76.33° East Longitude. The geography of Alappuzha is diverse. Alleppey is gifted with immense natural beauty with the Arabian sea on its west. The city has a vast network of lakes, lagoons and fresh water rivers. The wetland area estimated is 26079 ha. which includes 129 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 16. The major wetland types are Lagoons, Waterlogged, River/Stream and Tanks/Ponds. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 84 and 76 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 16 and 10 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Qualitative turbidity analysis of the open water showed that low and moderate turbidity prevail. Table 16: Area estimates of wetlands in Alappuzha Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 223 7753 29.73 4443 2834 2 1106 River/Stream 25 4558 17.48 4546 4445 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1202 Tanks/Ponds 25 476 1.83 211 166 Total - Inland 273 12787 49.03 9200 7445 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 4 2101 Lagoons 16 13017 49.91 12496 12248 5 2102 Creeks 14 62 0.24 60 60 6 2103 Sand/Beach 5 84 0.32 0 0 Total - Coastal 35 13163 50.47 12556 12308 Sub-Total 308 25950 99.51 21756 19753 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 129 129 0.49 - - Total 437 26079 100.00 21756 19753 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 4182 2642 Area under turbidity levels Low 11768 11438 Moderate 9988 8315 High - - 65 66 67 68 7.1.12 Pathanamthitta PathanamthittaKerala is a town situated in the very heart of the Central Travancore region of State. The total geographic area of Pathanamthitta district is 2,731 sq km. Pampa and Kakki reservoir and the famous Lord Ayappa temple in the nelimala inside periyar tiger reserve is in this district. As of 2001 India census, Pathanamthitta had a population of 12, 34,000. Pathanamthitta has an average literacy rate of 93%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. The wetland area estimated is 4948 ha. Small wetlands, which are less than minimum mapable units are 129 in the district. Details are given in Table 17. The major wetland types are River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages, Tanks/Ponds and Waterlogged. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 90 and 83 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 9 and 5 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Table 17: Area estimates of wetlands in Pathanamthitta Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1105 Waterlogged 52 201 4.06 89 6 2 1106 River/Stream 42 2955 59.72 2894 2771 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 3 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 2 1440 29.10 1319 1211 4 1202 Tanks/Ponds 27 223 4.51 43 12 Total - Inland 123.00 4819.00 97.39 4345.00 4000 Total - Coastal 0 0 0.00 0 0 Sub-Total 0 4819 0.00 4345 4000 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 129 129 2.61 - - Total 129 4948 2.61 4345 4000 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 413 246 Area under turbidity levels Low 3343 3179 Moderate 1002 821 High - - 69 70 71 72 7.1.13 Kollam Kollamdistricts in the state of Kerala Is one among the 14 . The total geographic area of Kollam district is 2,579 sq km. As of 2001 India census, KollamThiruvanathapuram had a population of 25,83,945. It lies north of the state capital . It is bound on the south by Thiruvananthapuram district, on the north by Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha, on the east by Tamil Nadu and on the west by the Arabian Sea. It is the southern gateway to the backwaters of Kerala, and a prominent tourist destination. About thirty percent of this district is covered by the Ashtamudi Lake. The Kallada river, which originates near Ponmudi from the Kulathupuzha hills Western Ghats in Thiruvananthapuram district, is formed by the confluence of three rivers, viz., Kulathupuzha, Chenthurnipuzha, and Kalthuruthipuzha, and after traversing a distance of about 121 km through virgin forests finally debouches into the Ashtamudi wetland at Neendakara (a fishing harbour) near Kollam as it enters the Lakshadweep Sea, part of the Arabian Sea with a maximum depth of 6.4 m at the confluence. It is Kerala’s deepest estuary. The wetland area estimated is 13703 ha. which includes 134 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 18. The major wetland types are Lagoons, River/Stream, Reservoirs/ Barrages and Waterlogged. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 90 and 90 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 10 and 8 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Table 18: Area estimates of wetlands in Kollam Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1101 Lakes 1 354 2.58 354 354 2 1105 Waterlogged 134 1281 9.35 568 416 3 1106 River/Stream 30 2080 15.18 2067 2003 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 4 1201 Reservoirs/ Barrages 1 1901 13.87 1555 1896 5 1202 Tanks/Ponds 14 292 2.13 246 117 Total - Inland 180 5908 43 4790 4786 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 6 2101 Lagoons 13 7575 55.28 7365 7371 Total - Coastal 24 7661 56 7365 7371 Sub-Total 204 13569 99.02 12155 12157 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 134 134 0.98 - - Total 338 13703 100.00 12155 12157 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 1301 1050 Area under turbidity levels Low 10174 10260 Moderate 1981 1814 High 0 83 73 74 75 76 6.1.14 Thiruvananthpuram Trivandrum is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. The district is situated between North latitudes at 8°17’ to 8°54’ and East longitudes 76°41’ to 77°17’. The district stretches 78 km along the shores of the Arabian Sea on the West, Kollam district lies on the North with Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu on the East and South respectively. The district is characterized by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills and busy commercial alleys. The total geographic area of Thiruvananthapuram district is 2,192 sq km with a population of 32,34,356. as per the 2001 census, Among the three rivers in the district, the Neyyar (56 km), the southernmost river of the Kerala state, has its origin in the Agasthyamala, the second highest peak in the Western Ghats. Karamana river (67 km) originates from Vayuvanthol (vazhuvanthol), another mountain in Western Ghats and the Vamanapuram River have their origin from Chemunji Mottai of the Western Ghats. There are 10 major back waters in the district. The major ones are Veli, Kadinamkulam, Anchuthengu(Anjengo), Kaappil, Akathumuri and the Edava-Nadayara. Besides these, there is a fresh water lake at Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram taluk, which has the potential to become the major water sources of the Thiruvanthapuram city in future. The wetland area estimated is 5942 ha. which includes 385 small wetlands (< 2.25 ha). Details are given in Table 19. The major wetland types are Lagoons, River/Stream, Reservoirs/Barrages, Waterlogged and Sand/Beach. Analysis of wetland status in terms of open water and aquatic vegetation showed that around 79 and 73 percent of wetland area is under open water category during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon respectively. Aquatic vegetation (floating/emergent) occupies around 9 and 5 per cent of wetland area during post and pre-monsoon respectively. Table 19: Area estimates of wetlands in Thiruvananthpuram Area in ha Sr. No. Wettcode Wetland Category Number of Wetlands Total Wetland Area % of wetland area Open Water Post-monsoon Area Pre-monsoon Area 1100 Inland Wetlands - Natural 1 1101 Lakes/Ponds 1 247 4.16 247 246 2 1105 Waterlogged 14 41 0.69 24 25 3 1106 River/Stream 24 1590 26.76 1506 1232 1200 Inland Wetlands -Man-made 4 1201 Reservoirs/Barrages 4 1501 25.26 1199 1231 5 1202 Tanks/Ponds 51 104 1.75 41 22 Total - Inland 94 3483 58.62 3017 2756 2100 Coastal Wetlands - Natural 6 2101 Lagoons 19 1531 25.77 1392 1324 7 2103 Sand/Beach 15 543 0.00 0 0 Total - Coastal 34 2074 34.90 1392 1324 Sub-Total 128 5557 93.52 4409 4080 Wetlands (<2.25 ha), mainly Tanks 385 385 6.48 0 0 Total 513 5942 100.00 4409 4080 Area under Aquatic Vegetation 496 289 Area under turbidity levels Low 2105 2439 Moderate 2069 1297 High 235 344 77 78 79 80 81 MAJOR WETLAND TYPES 82 83 8.0 MAJOR WETLAND TYPES OF KERALA Major wetland types observed in the state are Rivers, Lagoons and Reservoirs. Details are given in Plate-1. Ground truth data was collected for selected wetland sites. The standard Performa was used to record the field data. Field photographs are also taken to record the water quality (subjective), status of aquatic vegetation and water spread. The location of the features was recorded using GPS. Field photographs of different wetland types are shown in Plates 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d. Plate - 1: Major wetland types of Kerala Southern Part of Kerala (IRS P6 LISS-III FCC, January 5, 2007) A : B : C : A B C River/Stream Southern Part of Kerala (MNDWI NDPI NDVI from LISS-III data) Lagoons Reservoirs A B C 84 Plate 2a: Field photographs and ground truth data of different wetland types in Kerala Wetland Type: Lake Location: Longitude: 760 59’ 34.72” E Latitude : 080 25’ 43.56” N Turbidity: Low Aquatic vegetation: Present 4. Wetland Type: Sand/Beach Location: Longitude : 750 52’ 4.39” E Latitude : 100 58’ 37021” N Turbidity: NA Aquatic Vegetation: NA 3. Wetland Type: Reservoir/Barrage Location: Longitude: 760 45’ 54.26” E Latitude : 100 35’ 36.27” N Turbidity: Low 2. Wetland Type: Lagoon Location: Longitude: 760 24’ 2.56” E Latitude : 090 40’ 25.27” N Turbidity: Low Aquatic vegetation: Absent 1. Field photograph Description Sr. No. 85 Plate 2b: Field photographs and ground truth data of different wetland types in Kerala Field photograph Wetland Type: Waterlogged Location: Longitude: 760 40’ 58.81” E Latitude : 090 18’ 53.79” N Turbidity: Moderate Aquatic Vegetation: Present 8. Wetland Type: Riverine Wetland Location: Longitude : 760 01’ 11.61” E Latitude : 100 50’ 31.89” N Turbidity: Moderate Aquatic Vegetation: Present 7. Wetland Type: River Location: Longitude: 740 57’ 19.45” E Latitude : 120 33’ 36.65” N Turbidity: Moderate 6. Wetland Type: Pond Location: Longitude: 760 19’ 2.90” E Latitude : 090 46’ 5.58” N Turbidity: Low Aquatic vegetation: Present 5. Description Sr. No. 86 Plate 2c: Field photographs and ground truth data of different wetland types in Kerala Wetland Type- Waterlogged Location- Longitude : 76º42´13.96“E Latitude : 9º19´16.49“N Aquatic Vegetation: Present (Weeds, Lotus) 12. Wetland Type- Lagoon Location- Longitude: 75º58´43.24“E Latitude:10º45´50.36“N Aquatic Vegetation- Present (Weeds, Lotus) 11. Wetland Type- Pond/Tank Location- Longitude : 77º3´18.14“E Latitude: 9º57´42.18“N Turbidity- Low 10. Wetland Type- River Location- Longitude : 76º48´29.16“E Latitude: 9º15´40.43“N Turbidity- High 9 Field photograph Description Sr. No. 87 IMPORTANT WETLANDS OF KERALA 88 89 9.0 IMPORTANT WETLANDS OF Kerala Ashtamudi WetlandSasthamkotta Lake, Vembanad-Kol Wetland are three Ramsar sites in Kerala, Other than these wetlands , Parambikulam Dam, Periyar Lake, Kaway Lagoon, Kumbalangi kayal, Malampuzha Reservior, Koltapuzha kayal, Vayalar lake, Kayamkulam Kayal, and Peechi Dam Reservoir are some of the important wetland sites. Extensive field work was carried out for these wetland areas. Wetland maps have been prepared for 5km buffer area of each wetland sites. Location map of important wetland sites is shown in Plate 3. Details of each wetland and wetland map of 5 km buffer area are shown in plates 4 to 18. Plate – 3: Important Wetland sites of Kerala 90 9.1 Ashtamudi Wetland Plate 4: Ashtamudi wetland 91 Plate 5: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Ashtamudi wetland 92 93 Plate 6: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Ashtamudi wetland 94 9.2 Sasthamkotta Lake Plate 7: Sasthamkotta Lake 95 Plate 8: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Sasthamkotta Lake 96 97 Plate 9: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Sasthamkotta Lake 98 9.3 Vembanad-kol Wetland Plate 10: Vembanad-kol Wetland 99 Plate 11: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Vembanad-kol Wetland 100 101 Plate 12: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Vembanad-kol Wetland 102 9.4 Parambikulam Dam Plate 13: Parambikulam Dam Name: Parambikilam Dam Location: Latitude : 10º 21´ 36“ N to 10º 24´ 31“ N Longitude: 76º 45´ 51“ E to 76º 50´ 54“ E Located in Palakkad district, Kerala Area: 1762 ha Wetland type: Reservoir Average Annual Rainfall: 2590 mm, mostly occurring during June to September Description: The reservoir is located within the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary. The terrain around the reservoir is hilly and the elevation varies from 459 m to 1439 m. The area was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1962. The reservoir meets a part of the water needs of Tamil Nadu state. The turbidity of lake water is low. Pre-monsoon data (2007) Post-monsoon data (2006) 103 Plate 14: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of Parambikulam 104 105 Plate 15: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of Parambikulam Dam 106 9.5 Periyar Lake Plate 16: Periyar Lake Name: Periyar Lake Location: Latitude : 9º 28´ 35“ N to 9º 35´ 38“ N Longitude: 77º 8´ 16“ E to 77º 17´ 20“ E Located in Iddukki district in the Southern Ghats, Kerala Area: 2041 ha Wetland type: Reservoir Average Annual Rainfall: 3000 mm, mostly occurring during June to September Description: A large water storage reservoir formed by a dam on the Periyar river. The reservoir receives inflow from numerous perennial creeks from the surrounding forests, and has a highly indented shoreline. The surrounding hills are covered in tropical evergreen and deciduous forest interspersed with areas of grassland and Eucalyptus plantations. The Reservoir is protected in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. There are excellent facilities for tourists, including a large hotel by the lake and another on an island; boats are available for wildlife viewing. The turbidity of lake water is moderate. Pre-monsoon data (2007) Post-monsoon data (2006) 107 Plate 17: Wetland map - 5 km buffer area of periyar Lake 108 109 Plate 18: IRS LISS-III FCC - 5 km buffer area of periyar Lake 110 111 SOI MAP SHEET-WISE WETLAND MAPS (Selected) 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 REFERENCES 1. Anon. 2005, NNRMS Standards. A National Standards for EO images, thematic & cartographic maps, GIS databases and spatial outputs. ISRO:NNRMS: TR:112:2005. A Committee Report: National Natural Resources Management System, Bangalore 2. Anon. 1993. Directory of Indian Wetlands, 1993. 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International Journal of Remote Sensing, 7, pp. 3025-3033. 126 127 Annexure I Definitions of wetland categories used in the project For ease of understanding, definitions of wetland categories and their typical appearance on satellite imagery is given below: Wetland type code Definition and description 1000 Inland Wetlands 1100 Natural 1101 Lakes: Larger bodies of standing water occupying distinct basins (Reid et al, 1976). These wetlands occur in natural depressions and normally fed by streams/rivers. On satellite images lakes appear in different hues of blue interspersed with pink (aquatic vegetation), islands (white if unvegetated, red in case of terrestrial vegetation). Vegetation if scattered make texture rough. 1102 Ox-bow lakes/ Cut off meanders: A meandering stream may erode the outside shores of its broad bends, and in time the loops may become cut-off, leaving basins. The resulting shallow crescent-shaped lakes are called oxbow lakes (Reid et al, 1976). On the satellite image Ox-bow lakes occur near the rivers in plain areas. Some part of the lake normally has aquatic vegetation (red/pink in colour) during pre-monsoon season. 1103 High Altitude lakes: These lakes occur in the Himalayan region. Landscapes around high lakes are characterized by hilly topography. Otherwise they resemble lakes in the plain areas. For keeping uniformity in the delineation of these lakes contour line of 3000 m above msl will be taken as reference and all lakes above this contour line will be classified as high altitude lakes. 1104 Riverine Wetlands: Along the major rivers, especially in plains water accumulates leading to formation of marshes and swamp. Swamps are ‘Wetland dominated by trees or shrubs’ (U.S. Definition). In Europe, a forested fen (a peat accumulating wetland that has no significant inflows or outflows and supports acidophilic mosses, particularly Sphagnum) could be called a swamp. In some areas reed grass - dominated wetlands are also called swamps). (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). Marsh: A frequently or continually inundated wetland characterised by emergent herbaceous vegetation adapted to saturated soil conditions. In European terminology a marsh has a mineral soil substrate and does not accumulate peat (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). Tone is grey blue and texture is smooth. Comment: Using satellite data it is difficult to differentiate between swamp and marsh. Hence, both have been clubbed together. 1105 Waterlogged: Said of an area in which water stands near, at, or above the land surface, so that the roots of all plants except hydrophytes are drowned and the plants die (Margarate et al, 1974). Floods or unlined canal seepage and other irrigation network may cause waterlogging. Spectrally, during the period when surface water exists, waterlogged areas appear more or less similar to lakes/ponds. However, during dry season large or all parts of such areas dry up and give the appearance of mud/salt flats (grey bluish). 1106 River/stream: Rivers are linear water features of the landscape. Rivers that are wider than the mapping unit will be mapped as polygons. Its importance arises from the fact that many stretches of the rivers in Indo-Gangetic Plains and peninsular India are declared important national and international wetlands (Ex. The river Ganga between Brajghat and Garh Mukteshwar, is a Ramsar site, Ranganthattu on the Cavery river is a bird sanctuary etc.). Wherever, rivers are wide and features like sand bars etc. are visible, they will be mapped. 1200 Man-made 1201 Reservoir: A pond or lake built for the storage of water, usually by the construction of a dam across a river (Margarate et al, 1974). On RS images, reservoirs have irregular boundary behind a prominent dyke. Wetland boundary in case of reservoir incorporates water, aquatic vegetation and footprint of water as well. In the accompanying images aquatic vegetation in the reservoir is seen in bright pink tone. Tone is dark blue in deep reservoirs while it is ink blue in case of shallow reservoirs or reservoirs with high silt load. These will be annotated as Reservoirs/Dam. Barrage: Dykes are constructed in the plain areas over rivers for creating Irrigation/water facilities. Such water storage areas develop into wetlands (Harike Barrage on Satluj – a Ramsar site, Okhla barrage on the Yamuna etc. – a bird sanctuary). Water appears in dark blue tone with a smooth texture. Aquatic vegetation appears in pink colour, which is scattered, or contiguous depending on the density. Reservoirs formed by barrages will be annotated as reservoir/barrage. 128 1202 Tanks/Ponds: A term used in Ceylon and the drier parts of Peninsular India for an artificial pond, pool or lake formed by building a mud wall across the valley of a small stream to retain the monsoon (Margarate et al, 1974). Ponds Generally, suggest a small, quiet body of standing water, usually shallow enough to permit the growth of rooted plants from one shore to another (Reid et al, 1976). Tanks appear in light blue colour showing bottom reflectance. In this category Industrial ponds/mining pools mainly comprising Abandoned Quarries are also included (Quarry is defined as "An open or surface working or excavation for the extraction of stone, ore, coal, gravel or minerals." In such pits water accumulate (McGraw Hill Encyclopaedia of Environmental Sciences, 1974), Ash pond/Cooling pond (The water body created for discharging effluents in industry, especially in thermal power plants (Encyclopaedic Directory of Environment, 1988) and Cooling pond: An artificial lake used for the natural cooling of condenser-cooling water serving a conventional power station (Encyclopaedic Directory of Environment, 1988). These ponds can be of any shape and size. Texture is rough and tonal appearance light (quarry) to blue shade (cooling pond). 1203 Waterlogged : Man-made activities like canals cause waterlogging in adjacent areas due to seepage especially when canals are unlined. Such areas can be identified on the images along canal network. Tonal appearance is in various hues of blue. Sometimes, such waterlogged areas dry up and leave white scars on the land. Texture is smooth. 1204 Salt pans: Inland salt pans in India occur in Rajasthan (Sambhar lake). These are shallow rectangular man-made depressions in which saline water is accumulated for drying in the sun for making salt. 2000 Coastal Wetlands 2100 Natural 2101 Lagoons/Backwaters: Such coastal bodies of water, partly separated from the sea by barrier beaches or bass of marine origin, are more properly termed lagoons. As a rule, lagoons are elongate and lie parallel to the shoreline. They are usually characteristic of, but not restricted to, shores of emergence. Lagoons are generally shallower and more saline than typical estuaries (Reid et al, 1976). Backwater: A creek, arm of the sea or series of connected lagoons, usually parallel to the coast, separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land but communicating with it through barred outlets (Margarate et al, 1974). 2102 Creek: A notable physiographic feature of salt marshes, especially low marshes. These creeks develop as do rivers "with minor irregularities sooner or later causing the water to be deflected into definite channels" (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). Creeks will be delineated, however, their area will not be estimated. 2103 Sand/Beach: Beach is an unvegetated part of the shoreline formed of loose material, usually sand that extends from the upper berm (a ridge or ridges on the backshore of the beach, formed by the deposit of material by wave action, that marks the upper limit of ordinary high tides and wave wash to low water mark(Clark,1977).Beach comprising rocky material is called rocky beach. 2104 Intertidal mudflats: Most unvegetated areas that are alternately exposed and inundated by the falling and rising of the tide. They may be mudflats or sand flats depending on the coarseness of the material of which they are made (Clark, 1977). 2105 Salt Marsh: Natural or semi-natural halophytic grassland and dwarf brushwood on the alluvial sediments bordering saline water bodies whose water level fluctuates either tidally or non- tidally (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). Salt marshes look in grey blue shade when wet. 2106 Mangroves: The mangrove swamp is an association of halophytic trees, shrubs, and other plants growing in brackish to saline tidal waters of tropical and sub-tropical coastlines (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). On the satellite images mangroves occur in red colour if in contiguous patch. When mangrove associations are scattered or are degraded then instead of red colour, brick red colour may be seen. 2107 Coral reefs: Consolidated living colonies of microscopic organisms found in warm tropical waters. The term coral reef, or organic reef is applied to the rock- like reefs built-up of living things, principally corals. They consist of accumulations of calcareous deposits of corals and corraline algae with the intervening space connected with sand, which consists largely of shells of foraminefera. Present reefs are living associations growing on this accumulation of past (Clark, 1977). Reefs appear in light blue shade. 2200 Man-made 2201 Salt pans: An undrained usually small and shallow rectangular, man-made depression or hollow in which saline water accumulates and evaporates leaving a salt deposit (Margarate et al, 1974). Salt pans are square or rectangular in shape. When water is there appearance is blue while salt is formed tone is white. 2202 Aquaculture ponds: Aquaculture is defined as "The breeding and rearing of fresh-water or marine fish in captivity. Fish farming or ranching". The water bodies used for the above are called aquaculture ponds (Encyclopaedic Directory of Environment, 1988). Aquaculture ponds are geometrical in shape usually square or rectangular. Tone is blue. 129 Annexure – II Details of District information followed in the atlas Source : Survey of India (Surveyed in 2004 and published in 2005) 130 SpaceApplicationsCentre(SAC)isoneofthemajorcentresoftheIndianSpaceResearchOrganisation(ISRO).Itisauniquecentredealingwithawidevarietyofdisciplinescomprisingdesignanddevelopmentofpayloads,societalapplications,capacitybuildingandspacesciences,therebycreatingasynergyoftechnology,scienceandapplications.TheCentreisresponsibleforthedevelopment,realisationandqualificationofcommunication,navigation,earth&planetaryobservation,meteorologicalpayloadsandrelateddataprocessingandgroundsystems.Severalnationallevelapplicationprogrammesintheareaofnaturalresources,weatherandenvironmentalstudies,disastermonitoring/mitigation,etcarealsocarriedout.Itisplayinganimportantroleinharnessingspacetechnologyforawidevarietyofapplicationsforsocietalbenefits. SACisahostinstitutionforthetrainingprogrammesrelatedtoSatelliteCommunication,SatelliteMeteorologyandglobalchangeundertheCentreforSpaceScience&TechnologyEducationinAsiaandthePacific(CSSTEAP)affiliatedtotheUnitedNations(UN). http://www.isro.org Space Applications centre Indian Space Research Organisation Ahmedabad –380 015 COURTESY -ISRO