It would be an understatement to say that invasive aquatic weeds like water hyacinth are posing a grave threat to agriculture, fishing and tourism in Kuttanad. Despite spending crores to keep water hyacinth infestation in check, the backwater region is witnessing a rapid proliferation of the noxious weed.
Now, after realising the complete eradication of water hyacinth is impossible, a few local bodies in Kuttanad are trying to keep the weed problem under control through the economic utilisation of the problematic aquatic plant.
Neelamperoor grama panchayat, a few months ago, signed an agreement with a Tamil Nadu-based private firm to supply dried water hyacinth stems. “The aquatic weed has choked almost all the waterbodies in the panchayat. In the initial phase of the project, we despatched 750 loads of dried water hyacinth stems to the private company. We earned ₹7.35 lakh in the process. After a couple of months hiatus, the firm has recently informed us of their willingness to procure more dried stems,” says T.K. Thankachan, president, Neelamperoor panchayat.
