Challenge

Pulicat Lake is located 60 km north of Chennai and is the second largest brackish water lake in India. It straddles the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states on the Coromandel Coast in South India. Siltation and periodic closure of the bar mouth due to dynamic sedimentation processes has caused reduction of size and seasonal closure of the mouth of the lagoon. It has reduced fresh and saltwater exchange and made the lagoon shallow and turbid with an average depth of above 1.5 m. The hydrology of the Pulicat Lake is influenced by local climate, the regime of the inflowing river, activities along Buckingham canal which enters the lake, and the impacts of the neritic waters of the Bay of Bengal.

VattambeduKuppam village is located in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. The primary occupations in the village are farming (primarily paddy crops) and fishing (with 150 households currently engaged in the former). The village is dependent on the nearby irrigation tank for water for their domestic and agricultural needs. The current water supply and retention capacity of the ecosystem is unknown. However, the community reports freshwater water scarcity in the region, as well as saline water ingress into the farmlands. Although a freshwater tank has been installed and is used for irrigation, farmers are only managing to cultivate one crop annually, as opposed to the two crops they were cultivating a decade ago. Approximately 50 families are being impacted by the lack of sufficient water and salinization of fertile lands. Additionally, 150 fishing families involved in fishing in Pulicat Lake from the project area, report a marked reduction in fish catch and increased fishing effort over the last few years. They suspect that the closure of the lagoon mouth on the Andhra side, as well as the degradation of the lake ecosystems, are affecting fishery productivity.

Conservation Actions

• Map and restore freshwater flows and water retention capacities in the water catchment area of VattambeduKuppam village through restoration of natural wetland and water bodies.
• Plant a mangrove bio-shield across the agricultural fields bordering Buckingham canal for increased protection from saline water ingress, erosion, and storm impacts.
• Restore 10 hectares of seagrass in Pulicat Lake to enhance fisheries livelihoods for families of VattambeduKuppam village, towards increasing income security.
• Establish water and mangrove conservation committees and design sustainable-use mechanisms of natural coastal resources for livelihood and biodiversity conservation benefits.

Impacts

• There is an approximate 20% increase freshwater supply for agricultural fields and domestic usage by the end of the project.
• There is an approximate 20% increase in water retention by mini-catchments and lakes adjacent to the village, by the end of the project.
• A water-user association will be formed through democratic processes for the governance of freshwater resources.
• At least 100 hectares of agricultural fields are bounded by strengthened natural coastal infrastructure in the first 2 years of the project.
• There is an approximate 20% decrease in damage to agricultural fields by saline water ingress, erosion, and storms by the end of the project.
• At least 150 families benefit through an average 10% increase in fish catch within the first 2 years of project implementation.
• At least 10 hectares of seagrass will be restored in Pulicat lake.
• At least 100 men and 100 women are actively engaged in deciding and acting on sustainable livelihood and biodiversity conservation through the formation of a village institution in VattambeduKuppam.
• At least 3 nature clubs are established in 3 schools (2 in Cuddalore and 1 in VattambeduKuppam), involving 150 students.

Progress

Biophysical surveys in Pulicat Lake have been conducted, the seagrass beds and their status have been assessed and the mangroves have been surveyed. Total of 15 species were recorded from different groups of vegetation such as seagrass, mangroves and salt marshes. Out of them, 4 species were sea grasses (Halophyla ovalis, Halophyla minor, Syringodium isoetifolium and Halodule pinifolia), 3 were mangroves (Avicennia marina, Excoecaria agallocha, and Lumintzera recemosa) and the others were salt marsh species (Suaeda monoica, nudiflora, Sesuvium brachiatai, Arthrocnemum lagopoides and Cressa cretica).