A multi-dimensional study

Principal Investigator
Dr. Kesavan Rajasekharan Nayar PhD

Co-investigators
1. Dr D Nandakumar. Ph.D, Honorary Senior Fellow, Santhigiri Social Research Institute, Pothencode, Thiruvananthapuram
2. Dr Jacob Kuruvilla MPH, Fellow Santhigiri Social Research Institute, Pothencode, Thiruvananthapuram
3. Dr Chitra Grace, PhD, Associate Professor, Global Institute of Public Health,Chacka Bypass, Thiruvananthapuram


Background
Well-being of the communities living in proximity to wetlands across the world are dependent on environmental health in general and the ecosystem services provided by the wetlands in particular, for their livelihoods. There is a complicated relationship between physical, biological and cultural resources in Kuttanad. However, Kuttanad has become an environmentally fragile zone largely due to human interventions in the ecosystem.

Review
Intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers for the High Yield Varieties (HYV) of seeds used for rice cultivation has added to the problem. Even in the eighties, more than 46 different formulations of pesticides amounting to about 1000 tonnes were used in Kuttanad in every crop season. (Thampattiet al, 1999; Sreejith, 2013) The concentrations of the pesticides such as Lindane, DDT and Endosulfan and fertilizers such as Pottassium, Nitrogen, Phosphate etc. peak during December-February and July-August coinciding with the crop seasons. The exact nature of impacts of this has not been studied and therefore the impacts documented in many reports need to be grounded and with an evidence-base.

Rationale
While it is heartening to see that there are huge volumes of literature on Environmental Health and Livelihoods in wetland ecosystems, there are insufficient studies on health impact of use of pesticides in the local population through environmental effects.

Objectives
The proposed study is a multi-disciplinary effort to understand the impact of Kuttanad development on the human population with respect to land- use pattern, health and livelihood, with the objectives to understand the impact of pesticide use in soil, water and health of the people in Kuttanadu, to assess the temporal changes in the land use patterns using Remote Sensing data which have implications for health and livelihood, to identify vulnerable zones using GIS and develop thematic map, to evolve an environmental health profile of Kuttanad and to develop a sustainable environmental health assessment and monitoring tool for the community. Based on the above, to evolve the framework for an environmental health technology mission for the region.

Methodology Mixed methods will be used and includes household survey, water and soil sample testing, estimation of blood valuesof heavy metals and pesticide residues, GIS mapping, developing and testing a community tool for environmental health assessment.

Relevance vis-à-vis state needs
There is a complicated relationship between physical, biological and cultural resources in Kuttanad. Historical misunderstandings and a lack of appreciation for the rich water resources of estuaries and canals of Kuttanad have led to their widespread draining and development. Kuttanad has highly fragmented land ownerships, haphazard development plans and a lack of knowledge about human impacts. The long history of building bunds (dykes), regulated draining of water (thanneermukkom and thottappally spillway), and depletion of oxygen in the water cause massive fish kills, reduces fish and shellfish populations, and deteriorate water quality leading to negative impacts on human health.

For more details, please write to krnayar@gmail.com

Bibliography