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Abstract:
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The extensive backwaters of Kerala are the sites for a flourishing cottage industry - the coir
industry. This enterprise almost exclusively located along the 590 km coastal belt of Kerala,
provides direct employment to over half a million people in the state and produces nearly
90% of the total coir goods in the world. The shallow bays and lagoons of the 30 backwater
systems of the state are traditional areas for the retting of coconut husk for the production of
the coir fibre. The paper examines the environmental status of the retting grounds in Kerala,
in relation to the biotic communities. The study revealed that retting activity has caused large
scale organic pollution along with the mass destruction of the flora and fauna, converting
sizeable sections of the backwaters into virtual cesspools of foul smelling stagnant waters.
High values of hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, BOD5 associated with anoxic conditions and
low community diversity of plankton, benthic fauna, fish, shell fish, wood boring and fouling
organisms were the outstanding feature of the retting zones. |