SYNOPSIS OF OUR PROJECT

PROBLEMS RELATED TO SAND MINING IN CHERUTHURUTHY

The Bharatha puzha is one of the prominent rivers in kerala.it originates from Anamalla and flows through Tamilnadu and then through Palakkad,Thrissur and Malappuram districts of kerala.It covers a length of 209 km-ts.The main issue faced by the river is sand mining

The main emphasis of this project is to find out Problems and solutions of sand mining in Cheruthuruthy and surrounding areas.the main aim of this project was to find out how it affects the river and ecology of the surrounding areas.The tools used in this project were survey,observations,interviews and experiments,Survey was used to assess the attitude of the people and its conducted in 100 houses.Observation is done to asses the physical changes.Experiments is conducted to know the physical and chemical changes of water and sand,We categorized the experiments in 2 divisions

1) The experiments conducted in school lab

2) Experiments done in soil &survey department

For this propose we collected 2 types of samples 

1) from the area regular sand mining is not occurred

2) Sand mining affected area

We took Samples from 3 different regions

We categorized the problems of sand mining in to 4 different areas

1) affect on physical and chemical properties of sand

2) properties of water 

3) Ecology and biodiversity

4) Agriculture,land resources and environment

We conducted five interviews to conduct the data and information for analyzing the problem and finding solutions,We go through websites and books

We found out that perculation capacity ,pH regularizing capacity of the sand from mining affected area was less,,water holding capacity ,Electrical conductivity are higher than the same in less mining affected area.The quality of the water was poor than the other.This affect the biodiversity and ecology of the river.Fish fauna of the region is drastically down.the number of migrated birds seen in the are are is also decreasing .

From analyzing the data we reached the following conclusions.

1)The main reason for scarcity of water in our area is sand mining

2) the ground water level is sinking

3) The depth of the river is increasing

4) Irrigation projects are ruined

5) Soil erosion from river banks are increasing

6) Unauthorized sand mining cause social problems

40 The infrastructures like bridges,irrigation sheds are threatened

Solutions are suggested in 3 different areas.

1)Enrichment of the river

2)Control sand mining

3)Awareness programmes.

The first one includes forestation of river basin,re enforcement of springs canals to the river,Removal of bushes from river banks to control sand mining we have to control the unnecessary  building constructions by laws.Nature exploitation must be reduced for sustainable development.For building up awareness in the younger generation the river should be included an curriculum as local text.we have to promote habits like sand walking

As follow up activity we constructed a blog named MARIKKATHA NILA.Our blog has been linked with educational blogs like CHEMKERALA, JEEVASASTHRAJALAKAM.We conducted awareness programmes among the students of our school.We drafted a plamlet regarding the problems due to sand mining in connection with the breaking up of Cochin bridge.

We got great support from people ,students ,Local bodies and other offices for this project