History of India   
Biography of the place
named Kasaragod – 5
by Dr. V. Sankaran Nair

Early cradles of civilization

Marine estuarine lagoon salt lake constitutes salt water wetlands. Riverine lacustronine Paulstrine constitutes fresh water wetlands. Apart from these natural systems aquaculture, agriculture and water storage most important ecosystem of the earth providing habitats for a variety of flora and fauna.

Several kinds of wetlands such as marshes, swamps, lagoons, bogs, fens and mangroves were the habitats of the old world and were considered as the cradles of civilization. Wetlands cover about 6% of the earth’s land surface and are home to some of the richest, most diverse and fragile of natural resources. As they support a variety of plant and animal life, biologically they are one of the most productive ecosystems.

The flood plains of the Indus, the Nile Delta and the Fertile Crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were the earliest of them all. Wetlands in India have been broadly classified into Himalayan Gangetic and coastal wetlands. India has a wealth of wetland ecosystems comprising a total of 27, 403 wetlands-
23,444 are inland wetlands and 3,959 are coastal wetlands linked with major river systems. According to the Directory of Asian Wetlands (1989), wetlands in India occupy 18.4% of the country’s area (excluding rivers), of which 70 % are under paddy cultivation. In India, out of an estimated 4.1 mha (excluding irrigated agricultural lands, rivers, and streams) of wetlands, 1.5 mha are natural, while 2.6 mha are manmade.

The coastal wetlands occupy an estimated 6,750 sq km, and are largely dominated by mangrove vegetation, including Kerala. They provide water for various human needs, besides serving as nesting, feeding, and breeding sites for a large variety of bird species.

Among the differentiated categories of wetlands in India (Scott, 1989) are included the reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south. Backwater or estuarine system of Kerala found in coastal areas includes Valiapatam and Kavvai. They are found to be cradles of civilization as they helped shape human activities from time immemorial.

Watershed areas of Kasaragod

This environment was bounteous enough to offer to its inhabitants a great variety of food items like rice, tubers, fruits, green leafy vegetables, pepper, ginger, turmeric, medicinal plants etc. Above all, the springs originating from the hills, or in the mid-land, offered them security of food. The Kavvayi River is typical of the midland- originated rivers.

Its watershed, spread over Kannur and Kasaragod has a total area of 164.76 sq. km. Hillocks are situated along its basin up to the western boundary of the midland. Wetland covers wide land areas that are seasonally or permanently waterlogged, including lakes, rivers, and estuaries, freshwater marshes of low-lying land, submerged or inundated periodically by fresh or saline water. Such lands are common in Kerala. Wetland systems directly and indirectly support lakhs of people, providing goods and services to them. Moreover, significant socio-economic values like constant water supply, fisheries, fuel wood, medicinal plants; livestock grazing, agriculture, energy resource, wildlife resource and transport are noteworthy. 

January 15, 2006

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