Government sets apart ₹10 crore to ring-fenced account for restoration of Vembanad, Ashtamudi lakes

The State government has accorded administrative sanction to set up a ₹10-crore ring-fenced account for the restoration of the Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes, designated as Ramsar sites, for their ecological importance.

The move comes as a follow up to the ₹10-crore penalty imposed on the government by the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal in March 2023 for its failure to check the indiscriminate pollution of the Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes.

The tribunal had directed the government to ring-fence an amount of ₹10 crore for undertaking conservation and restoration activities in the Vembanad and Ashtamudi wetlands. The drawing and disbursing officer of the Department of Local Self-Government has taken necessary steps to transfer the money to the specified account, said a government order dated July 9, 2025.

Biomining of legacy waste

Of the ₹10-crore fund, about ₹2.39 crore will be disbursed for projects under the Suchitwa Keralam (Rural) implemented by local bodies in the Ashtamudi–Vembanad wetland region as per the list furnished by the Executive Director, Suchitwa Mission. The remaining fund will be used for the biomining of legacy waste implemented by the Kochi Corporation in Brahmapuram, it said.

The tribunal had stated in its order dated March 22, 2023 that the environment compensation of ₹10 crore had to be utilised for conservation/restoration measures by preparing an action plan to be preferably executed within six months.

It would be open to the Chief Secretary to collect the amount from erring officers/departments/industries/ individuals in accordance with the law by an appropriate mechanism and hold erring officers appropriately accountable departmentally or by way of prosecution and also to proceed against other entities, railways, local bodies, and industries (responsible for the pollution) within three months, it said.

The penalty was imposed on the basis of the ‘polluter pays principle’ after the Bench observed that action taken at the State-level was also inadequate to remedy the situation. The State cannot plead helplessness in implementing guaranteed rights of the citizens and also in taking stringent measures for protection of environment and public health, it said.