LEGAL SURVEY

CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCTION

Settlement of disputes through reference to a third party is a part of the

volkgiest of India since times immemorial. It has undergone a phenomenal
metamorphosis, growing from the stage of village elders sitting under a banyan tree
and resolving disputes to the stage of gaining a statutory recognition. India has put in
place a progressive piece of legislation which is essentially based on the Model Law
and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. The Parliament enacted the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act of 1996 with a view to making arbitration less technical and more
useful and effective, which not only removes many serious defects of the earlier
arbitration law, but also incorporates modern concepts of arbitration. What it now
needs is inculcation of the culture of arbitration within the bar, the bench and the
arbitral community.

“I realized that the true fiction of a lawyer was to unite parties… A large part
of my time during the 20 years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing
out private compromise of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby- not even
money, certainly not my soul.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

ADR is not immune from criticism. Some have seen in it a waste of time;
others recognize the risk that it be only initiated to check what is the minimum offer
that the other party would accept. the delay in disposal of cases in Law Courts, for
whatever reason it may be, has really defeated the purpose for which the people
approach the Courts for their redressal. In many parts of India, rapid development
has meant increased caseloads for already overburdened courts, further leading to
notoriously slow adjudication. As a result, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
have become more crucial for businesses operating in India as well as those doing
businesses with Indian firms. So Alternate Dispute Resolution (herein after as ADR)
is necessary as a substitute to existing methods of dispute resolution such as
litigation, conflict, violence and physical fights or rough handling of situations. It is a
movement with a drive from evolving positive approach and attitude towards
resolving a dispute.

LEGISLATIONS OF ADR IN INDIA

Code of Civil Procedure

The Code of Civil Procedure, 1859 in its sections 312 to 325 dealt with
arbitration in suits while sections 326 and 327 provided for arbitration without court
intervention. The Code of Civil Procedure (Act 5 of 1908) repealed the Act of 1882.
The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 has laid down that cases must be encouraged to
go in for ADR under section 89(1). Under the First Schedule, Order XXXII A, Rule 3
a duty is cast upon the courts that it shall make an endeavor to assist the parties in
the first instance, in arriving at a settlement in respect of the subject matter of the
suit. The second schedule related to arbitration in suits while briefly providing
arbitration without intervention of a court. Order I, Rule 1 of the schedule says that
where in any suit, all the parties agree that any matter in difference between them
shall be referred to arbitration, they may, at any time before judgment is pronounced;
apply to the court for an order of reference. This schedule, in a way supplemented
the provisions of the Arbitration Act of 1899.

Indian Arbitration Act, 1899:

This Act was substantially based on the British Arbitration Act of 1889. It
expanded the area of arbitration by defining the expression ‘submission’ to mean “a
written agreement to submit present and future differences to arbitration whether an
arbitrator is named therein or not”.

Arbitration (Protocol and Convention) Act 1937:

The Geneva Protocol on Arbitration Clauses 1923 and the Geneva

Convention on the Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1927 were implemented in
India by the Arbitration (Protocol and Convention) Act, 1937. This Act was enacted
with the object of giving effect to the Protocol and enabling the Convention to
become operative in India.
The Arbitration Act of 1940:

The Arbitration Act, 1940, dealt with only domestic arbitration. Under the
1940 Act, intervention of the court was required in all the three stages of arbitration
in the tribunal, i.e. prior to the reference of the dispute, in the duration of the
proceedings, and after the award was passed.

This Act made provision for- a) arbitration without court intervention; b)

arbitration in suits i.e. arbitration with court intervention in pending suits and c)
arbitration with court intervention, in cases where no suit was pending before the
court.

Before an arbitral tribunal took cognizance of a dispute, court intervention was

required to set the arbitration proceedings in motion. The existence of an agreement
and of a dispute was required to be proved. During the course of the proceedings,
the intervention of the court was necessary for the extension of time for making an
award. Finally, before the award could be enforced, it was required to be made the
rule of the court. This Act did not fulfill the essential functions of ADR. The extent of
Judicial Interference under the Act defeated its very purpose. It did not provide a
speedy, effective and transparent mechanism to address disputes arising out of
foreign trade and investment transactions.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996:

The government enacted the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in an effort
to modernize the 1940 Act. In 1978, the UNCITRAL Secretariat, the Asian African
Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC), the International Council for Commercial
Arbitration (ICCA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) met for a
consultative meeting, where the participants were of the unanimous view that it
would be in the interest of International Commercial Arbitration if UNCITRAL would
initiate steps leading to the establishment of uniform standards of arbitral procedure.
The preparation of a Model Law on arbitration was considered the most appropriate
way to achieve the desired uniformity. The full text of this Model Law was adopted on
21st June 1985 by UNCITRAL. This is a remarkable legacy given by the United
Nations to International Commercial Arbitration, which has influenced Indian Law. In
India, the Model Law has been adopted almost in its entirety in the 1996 Act. This
Act repealed all the three previous statutes. Its primary purpose was to encourage
arbitration as a cost-effective and quick mechanism for the settlement of commercial
disputes. It covers both domestic arbitration and international commercial
arbitration. It marked an epoch in the struggle to find an alternative to the traditional
adversarial system of litigation in India.

The changes brought about by the 1996 Act were so drastic that the entire
case law built up over the previous fifty-six years on arbitration was rendered
superfluous. Unfortunately, there was no widespread debate and understanding of
the changes before such an important legislative change was enacted. The
Government of India enacted the 1996 Act by an ordinance, and then extended its
life by another ordinance, before Parliament eventually passed it without reference to
Parliamentary Committee.

Arbitration, as practiced in India, instead of shortening the lifespan of the

dispute resolution, became one more “inning” in the game. Not only that, the
arbitrator and the parties’ lawyers treated arbitration as “extra time” or overtime work
to be done after attending to court matters. The result was that the normal session of
an arbitration hearing was always for a short duration. Absence of a full-fledged
Arbitration Bar effectively prevented arbitrations being heard continuously on day-to-
day basis over the normal working hours, viz. 4-5 hours every day. This resulted in
elongation of the period for disposal.

Veerappa Moily also said in the ADR congress held in the year 2010 that the
1996 Act, although modeled along international standards, has so far proved to be
insufficient in meeting the needs of the business community, for the speedy and
impartial resolution of disputes in India.

The Law Commission of India prepared a report on the experience of the

1996 Act and suggested a number of amendments. Based on the recommendations
of the Commission, the Government of India introduced the Arbitration and
Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2003, in the Parliament. The standing committee of
law ministry felt that provisions of the Bill gave room for excessive intervention by the
courts in arbitration proceedings.
 MODES AND PRACTICES OF ADR IN INDIA

ADR can be broadly classified into two categories: court-annexed options

(Mediation, Conciliation) and community based dispute resolution mechanism (Lok-
Adalat).

The following are the modes of ADR practiced in India:

Arbitration

Mediation

Conciliation

Negotiation

Lok Adalat

1. Arbitration:

The definition of ‘arbitration’ in section 2(1) (a) verbatim reproduces the text of
article 2(a) of the Model Law-‘arbitration means any arbitration whether or not
administered by a permanent arbitral institution’. It is a procedure in which the
dispute is submitted to an arbitral tribunal which makes a decision (an “award”) on
the dispute that is binding on the parties. It is a private, generally informal and non-
judicial trial procedure for adjudicating disputes. There are four requirements of the
concept of arbitration: an arbitration agreement; a dispute; a reference to a third
party for its determination; and an award by the third party.

The essence lies in the point that it is a forum chosen by the parties with an
intention that it must act judicially after taking into account relevant evidence before it
and the submission of the parties. Hence it follows that if the forum chosen is not
required to act judicially, the process it is not arbitration.

Types of arbitration are:

Ad Hoc Arbitration
 An ad hoc arbitration is one which is not administered by an institution and
therefore, the parties are required to determine all aspects of the arbitration like the
number of arbitrators, manner of their appointment, etc. Provided the parties
approach the arbitration in a spirit of cooperation, ad hoc proceedings can be more
flexible, cheaper and faster than an administered proceeding. The advantage is that,
it is agreed to and arranged by the parties themselves. However, the ground realities
show that arbitration in India, particularly ad hoc arbitration, is becoming quite
expensive vis-à-vis traditional litigation.

Institutional Arbitration

An institutional arbitration is one in which a specialized institution with a

permanent character intervenes and assumes the functions of aiding and
administering the arbitral process, as according to the rules of that institution. It is
important to note that these institutions do not arbitrate the dispute, it is the
arbitrators who arbitrate, and so the term arbitration institution is inapt and only the
rules of the institution apply. Incorporation of book of rules in the “arbitration
agreement” is one of the principle advantages of institutional arbitration. Institutional
Arbitration, throughout the world, is recognized as the primary mode of resolution of
international commercial disputes. It is an arbitration administered by an arbitral
institution.

Further, in many arbitral institutions such as the International Chamber of

Commerce (ICC), before the award is finalized and given, an experienced panel
scrutinizes it. As a result, the possibilities of the court setting aside the award is
minimal.

Statutory Arbitration

When a law specifies that if a dispute arises in a particular case it has to be

referred to arbitration, the arbitration proceedings are called “statutory arbitration”.
Section 2(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 provides, with the exception
of section 40(1), section 41 and section 43, that the provisions of Part I shall apply to
every arbitration under any other act for the time being in force in India.

Fast track arbitration

 Fast track arbitration is a time-bound arbitration, with stricter rules of
procedure, which do not allow any laxity for extensions of time, and the resultant
delays, and the reduced span of time makes it more cost effective. Sections 11(2)
and 13(2) of the 1996 Act provides that the parties are free to agree on a procedure
for appointing an arbitrator and choose the fastest way to challenge an arbitral award
respectively. The Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA) has pioneered the concept of
fast track arbitration in India and under its rules, parties may request the arbitral
tribunal to settle disputes within a fixed timeframe.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING MECHANISMS

The evolution of ADR mechanisms was not of that much success. Thereby,
the trend is the imposition of responsibility and duty on Court

i) Courts are authorized to give directives for the adoption of ADR mechanisms by
the parties and for that purpose Court has to play important role by way of giving
guidance. Power is also conferred upon the courts so that it can intervene in different
stages of proceedings. But these goals cannot be achieved unless requisite
infrastructure is provided and institutional frame work is put to place.

ii) The institutional framework must be brought about at three stages, which are:

Awareness: It can be brought about by holding seminars, workshops, etc. ADR

literacy program has to be done for mass awareness and awareness camp should
be to change the mindset of all concerned disputants, the lawyers and judges.

Acceptance: In this regard training of the ADR practitioners should be made by some
University together with other institutions. Extensive training would also be
necessary to be imparted to those who intend to act as a facilitator, mediators, and
conciliators. Imparting of training should be made a part of continuing education on
different facets of ADR so far as judicial officers and judges are concerned.

Implementation: For this purpose, judicial officers must be trained to identify cases
which would be suitable for taking recourse to a particular form of ADR.

iii) ADR Mechanisms to be made more viable: The inflow of cases cannot be
stopped because the doors of justice cannot be closed. But there is a dire need to
increase the outflow either by strengthening the capacity of the existing system or by
way of finding some additional outlets.

iv)Setting up of Mediation Centres in all districts of each state with a view to mediate
all disputes will bring about a profound change in the Indian Legal system. These
Mediation centres would function with an efficient team of mediators who are
selected from the local community itself.

v) Not many Indians can afford litigation. This kind of state of affairs makes common
people, especially rural people, cynical about judicial process. We must take the
ADR mechanism beyond the cities. Gram Nyayalayas should process 60 to 70
percent of rural litigation leaving the regular courts to devote their time to complex
civil and criminal matters.

vi) More and more ADR centres should be created for settling disputes out-of-court.
ADR methods will achieve the objective of rendering social justice to the people,
which is the goal of a successful judicial system.

vii) The major lacuna in ADR is that it is not binding. One could still appeal against
the award or delay the implementation of the award. “Justice delayed is justice
denied.” The very essence of ADR is lost if it is not implemented in the true spirit.
The award should be made binding on the parties and no appeal to the court should
be allowed unless it is arrived at fraudulently or if it against public policy.

With the advent of the alternate dispute resolution, there is new avenue for
the people to settle their disputes. The settlement of disputes in Lok Adalat quickly
has acquired good popularity among the public and this has really given rise to a
new force to ADR and this will no doubt reduce the pendency in law Courts. There is
an urgent need for justice dispensation through ADR mechanisms. The ADR
movement needs to be carried forward with greater speed. This will considerably
reduce the load on the courts apart from providing instant justice at the door-step,
without substantial cost being involved. If they are successfully given effect then it
will really achieve the goal of rendering social justice to the parties to the dispute.
 CHAPTER – 2
PART - A
METHODOLOGY

A legal survey was conducted on 16th December ,2017 in Trivandrum Area in

Athiyanoor, Thaluk about the water pollution of VELLAYANI LAKE . Vellayani or
Vellayani kayal as known in local language is one of the three rain-fed freshwater
lakes in Kerala, the other two being Sasthamcotta lake in Kollam and Pookkode lake
in Wayanad. Vellayani lake, is the largest fresh water lake in Thiruvananthapuram
district, of Kerala. The lake is located about 7 km away from Kovalam. The lake
water is extensively used for drinking and irrigational purposes. The lake is under the
threat of pollution, encroachment and sand mining.

It has been observed that the area of the lake, which was 750 ha in 1926, had
been reduced to 397.5 ha by 2005. The lake was a tourist resort during the erstwhile
Travancore era. Till 1953, it was used only to grow lotus flowers for the Sri
Padmanabha Swamy temple. The `Grow more Food' programme launched by the
Government in the early 1950s had led to the reclamation of vast areas for
cultivation. It is a common practice to dewater the lake twice annually for paddy
cultivation by the farmers. Ironically, the five panchayats surrounding the lake-
Thiruvallam, Kalliyoor, Venganoor, Nemom and Kovalam- go dry during summer
forcing the Government to spend a huge sum to reach water in mobile tankers.

According to the Head of the Resource Analysis Division at the Centre for
Earth Science Studies, K. Soman, "Having been part of the lake, the fields retain a
lower layer of sand caused by sedimentation. Removal of this layer is bound to affect
the water table in the region. The resultant decrease in hydraulic pressure will also
lead to salinity intrusion beyond the spillway." An Environment Impact Assessment
by the CESS (2003) had pointed out that removal of laterite soil from the hills in the
neighboring Thiruvallam drastically changes not only the `wetland landscape' but
also its ecology and habitat characteristics.

In 2004, the state government officially brought a proposal to use a part of the
lake for paddy cultivation. The local residents protested against this. The State
Human Rights Commission (SHRC) intervened to stop this agitation. In the year
2005, the Commission stayed this move of the state. They took this decision after a
detailed study by the Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. The
study had warned that dewatering the lake for cultivation would endanger the
reservoir and threaten several drinking water projects servicing the neighboring
panchayats.

The study report recommended a revenue survey to demarcate the reservoir

area and identify the encroachments. It called for steps to evict all illegal
occupations, fence the entire boundary of the lake and deploy security guards. The
report suggested that the water body should be handed over to the Public Health
Engineering Department for preservation and maintenance. Use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides and steps to check pollution of the waters by solid waste
and sewerage should be stopped and there should be controlled fish farming in the
lake to improve the water quality, said the report. Another report was also submitted
to the Commission by the Water Resources Department, which warned that the
reclamation of the rain-fed lake would reduce its recharge capacity and impact on
the hydrological system.

In 2006, the SHRC ordered the state to withdraw the order relating to paddy
cultivation in the land around the Vellayani Lake. The state government was ordered
to take over the private lands around the lake after paying the compensation to the
landholders. The Commission has also directed the state government to work with
the Ministry of Environment and Forests to take steps to protect the lake as a source
of drinking water. The state was also directed to form a committee headed by the
District Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, comprising officials from the Revenue
Department, the Kerala Water Authority and the police for protecting the lake. It was
suggested that the committee should review its functioning two times a year. Anti-
pollution signboards should be placed around the lake and fish farming should be
encouraged in a controlled manner, the order said.

In 2008, students of the Mannam Memorial Residential Higher Secondary

School, Neeramankara, submitted a report on their study on conservation of
Vellayani Lake to Water Resources Minister. According to their project report, the
analysis of water samples from the lake, conducted at the Government Analyst’s
Lab, indicated a high content of iron, ammonia and E-coli bacteria. The students
researched out that an open drain was directly discharging waste into the lake near
Bund Road. The lake was also polluted by runoff from agricultural fields and nearby
areas. The students observed that the Fish culture by the Fisheries Department had
also affected the natural biota of the lake causing pollution. Another factor degrading
the lake was constructional aspects and development works in the name of tourism.
Sand mining was also posing a threat of decrease of groundwater recharge and
increase of turbidity by intervening with the natural filtering system, the report said. In
December last year, the state Revenue Minister declared that the government had
initiated moves to carry out a comprehensive survey of the Vellayani lake. He
claimed that the government was taking all the necessary steps to preserve the
lake’s ecology.

In the beginning of 2009, the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, had proposed

the constitution of an ecosystem development authority, comprising representatives
of local people to manage and conserve the Vellayani freshwater lake. This was
done after the survey by the Social Science division of the college at the end of last
year. The report identified sand mining as the biggest threat to the lake. The college
suggested organic farming at the vicinity of the lake and also recommended eco
tourism for the lake.

We conducted our legal survey through questionier made from selected

question regarding to this problem, and distributed it among the 15 houses around
the VELLAYANI LAKE .From their feedback this legal survey report has been made.
 PART - B

LOCATION DETAILS

This legal survey was conducted about polluting vellayani lake in venniyoor area ,
which is a town in athiyanoor Taluk.
LOCATION DETAILS

SINO LOCATION DETAILS

1 VILLAGE VENNIYOOR
2 CORPORATION THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
3 TALUK ATHIYANOOR
4 DISTRICT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
5 STATE KERALA

TEAM LIST

SINO NAME REG:NO

1 GOKULNATH G 47415551045
2 AJU XAVIER KUNCHERIA 47415551006
3 SACHIN L S 47415551092

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

vellayani lake is very important water body in the locality of the VENNIYOOR ,
before it was only reliable water resource for the peoples among that locality and also act as
a major recharging hub for ground water in that area now the water body is being polluted by
the waste both plastics, pesticides and organic wastes.now the water in that lake is not
useable and polluted too much as a danger to life .so we are trying to understand through
this survey the difficulties and needs of the residents who are staying around the lake, and
how much health problem are caused through this.

CONCEPT OF QUESTIONIER

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the

purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires can be thought
of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone,
computer or post. Questionnaires provide a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way
of obtaining large amounts of information from a large sample of people. Data can be
collected relatively quickly because the researcher would not need to be present
when the questionnaires were completed. This is useful for large populations when
interviews would be impractical.

However, a problem with questionnaire is that respondents may lie due to social
desirability. Most people want to present a positive image of themselves and so may
lie or bend the truth to look good, e.g., pupils would exaggerate revision duration
Questionnaires can be an effective means of measuring the behavior, attitudes,
preferences, opinions and, intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects more
cheaply and quickly than other methods. An important distinction is between open-
ended and closed questions. Often a questionnaire uses both open and closed
questions to collect data. This is beneficial as it means both quantitative and
qualitative data can be obtained.

Closed Questions

Closed questions structure the answer by only allowing responses which fit into pre-
decided categories. Data that can be placed into a category is called nominal data.
The category can be restricted to as few as two options, i.e., dichotomous (e.g., 'yes'
or 'no,' 'male' or 'female'), or include quite complex lists of alternatives from which the
respondent can choose (e.g., polytomous).

Closed questions can also provide ordinal data (which can be ranked). This often
involves using a continuous rating scale to measure the strength of attitudes or
emotions. For example, strongly agree / agree / neutral / disagree / strongly disagree
/ unable to answer. Closed questions have been used to research type A
personality (e.g., Friedman & Rosenman, 1974), and also to assess life events which
may cause stress (Holmes & Rahe, 1967), and attachment (Fraley, Waller, &
Brennan, 2000).

Strengths

They can be economical. This means they can provide large amounts of research
data for relatively low costs. Therefore, a large sample size can be obtained which
should be representative of the population, which a researcher can then generalize
from. The respondent provides information which can be easily converted into
quantitative data (e.g., count the number of 'yes' or 'no' answers), allowing statistical
analysis of the responses. The questions are standardized. All respondents are
asked exactly the same questions in the same order. This means a questionnaire
can be replicated easily to check for reliability. Therefore, a second researcher can
use the questionnaire to check that the results are consistent.

Limitations

They lack detail. Because the responses are fixed, there is less scope for
respondents to supply answers which reflect their true feelings on a topic.

Open Questions

Open questions allow people to express what they think in their own words. Open-
ended questions enable the respondent to answer in as much detail as they like in
their own words. For example: “can you tell me how happy you feel right now?” If you
want to gather more in-depth answers from your respondents, then open questions
will work better. These give no pre-set answer options and instead allow the
respondents to put down exactly what they like in their own words.Open questions
are often used for complex questions that cannot be answered in a few simple
categories but require more detail and discussion.

Lawrence Kohlberg presented his participants with moral dilemmas. One of the most
famous concerns a character called Heinz who is faced with the choice between
watching his wife die of cancer or stealing the only drug that could help her.
Participants were asked whether Heinz should steal the drug or not and, more
importantly, for their reasons why upholding or breaking the law is right.

Strengths

Rich qualitative data is obtained as open questions allow the respondent to elaborate
on their answer. This means the research can find out why a person holds a
certain attitude.

Limitations
Time-consuming to collect the data. It takes longer for the respondent to complete
open questions. This is a problem as a smaller sample size may be obtained. Time-
consuming to analyze the data. It takes longer for the researcher to analyze
qualitative data as they have to read the answers and try to put them into categories
by coding, which is often subjective and difficult. However, Smith (1992) has devoted
an entire book to the issues of thematic content analysis the includes 14 different
scoring systems for open-ended questions. Not suitable for less educated
respondents as open questions require superior writing skills and a better ability to
express one's feelings verbally.

Designing a Questionnaire

With some questionnaires suffering from a response rate as low as 5%, it is essential
that a questionnaire is well designed. There are a number of important factors in
questionnaire design.

Aims

Make sure that all questions asked address the aims of the research. However, use
only one feature of the construct you are investigating in per item.

Length

The longer the questionnaire, the less likely people will complete it. Questions should
be short, clear, and be to the point; any unnecessary questions/items should be
omitted.

Pilot Study

Run a small scale practice study to ensure people understand the questions. People
will also be able to give detailed honest feedback on the questionnaire design.

Question Order

Questions should progress logically from the least sensitive to the most sensitive,
from the factual and behavioral to the cognitive, and from the more general to the
more specific. The researcher should ensure that the answer to a question is not
influenced by previous questions.
Terminology

There should be a minimum of technical jargon. Questions should be simple, to the

point and easy to understand. The language of a questionnaire should be
appropriate to the vocabulary of the group of people being studied. Use statements
which are interpreted in the same way by members of different subpopulations of the
population of interest.

For example, the researcher must change the language of questions to match the
social background of respondents' age / educational level / social class / ethnicity
etc.

Presentation

Make sure it looks professional, include clear and concise instructions. If sent
through the post make sure the envelope does not signify ‘junk mail.’

Ethical Issues

The researcher must ensure that the information provided by the respondent is kept
confidential, e.g., name, address, etc. This means questionnaires are good for
researching sensitive topics as respondents will be more honest when they cannot
be identified. Keeping the questionnaire confidential should also reduce the
likelihood of any psychological harm, such as embarrassment. Participants must
provide informed consent prior to completing the questionnaire, and must be aware
that they have the right to withdraw their information at any time during the survey/
study.

Advantages of the Questionnaire

1. Requires less skill.
2. Less training is needed.
3. Cheaper in nature.
4. Also impersonal in nature.
5. Pressure is less.
6. Anonymity.

Disadvantages of the Questionnaire

1. Returns are low if compared to the other methods used for the collection of the
data.
2. Response is also less.
3. Less flexible in working.
4. Occurrence of errors.
5. Less reliable.
6. Sometimes answers obtained can be wrong.
7. Not efficient in the depth – problems.

In our questionier we divided the question format under three heads.under part one
we collected personal details including contact details.under part 2,we collected
information through multiple choices question and under part 3, we collected
descriptive answers for our questions.our primary aim was to collect details about
the peoples of the locality and their response about this problem, secondly the
grievness of the situations and after effects of the problem .thirdly we made survey
on the increase of diseases happend or cause to happen due to the polluted
pond.we distributed these questioniers among 25 families around that pond , who
may have get to use of pond.and we collected their feedback and suggestions by
which this legal survey report has been made.
 PART - C

ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONIER FEEDBACK THROUGH GRAPHICAL

REPRESENTATION

Kerala is one among the most thickly populated region in the world and the
population is increasing at a rate of 14% per decade. As a result of the measures to
satisfy the needs of the huge popualtion, the rivers of Kerala have been increasingly
polluted from the industrial and domestic waste and from the pesticides and fertilizer
in agriculture. Industries discharge hazardous pollutants like phosphates, sulphides,
ammonia, fluorides, heavy metals and insecticids into the downstream reaches of
the river. The river periyar and chaliyar are very good examples for the pollution due
to industrial effluents. it is estimated that nearly 260 million litres of trade effluents
reach the Periyar estuary daily from the Kochi industrial belt.

The major water quality problem associated with rivers of Kerala is

bacteriological pollution.The assessment of river such as Chalakudy, Periyar,
Muvattupuzha, Meenachil, Pamba and Achenkovil indicates that the major quality
problem is due to bacteriological pollution and falls under B or C category of CPCB
classification.There are local level quality problems faced by all rivers especially due
to dumping of solid waste, bathing and discharge of effluents.With regard to
groundwater, water quality charecteristics of wells in Kerala are found to be affected
by chemical and biological contaminants.The ground water quality problemas in the
coastal araes are mainly because of the presence of excess chloride.The chloride
concentration >250mb/l was detected in the well water samples of Azhicode,
Kakkathuruthy, Edathinjil, Kadalundi, Chellanum, nallalam, Mankombu and Haripad.
in Alappuzha district, flouride concentration in the pumbing wells was observed to be
high.In midland region, with regard to ionic concentraion, the concentration of
flouride iron and chlorid were found to be on the higher side.The flouride content was
observed to be beyond the permissible limit of 1 mg/1.Deep wells in Chittur taluk and
Knajikod areas of Palakkad district are found to contain flouride concentration
greater than 1mg/l.

Open well of Kerala are under threat of bacetriological comtamination.In

Kerala about 60% of the population relies on ground water for drinking.At the same
time studies have shown that faecal contamination is present in 90% of drinking
water wells.The open character of the wells, and conventional maintanance habits,
and use of buckets and rope to draw water, kitchen wastes and pit latrines with
average family load factor (5 members) at a distance of less than 5 meters from
wells are some of the factors, which are contributing to the bacteriological
contamuination.Ground water contamination due to industrial pollution has been
reported from places of Kochi (eastern part of Aluva), Palakkad and some parts of
Kollam, Kozhikode and Kannur.and other ground water recharges like ponds lakes
etc also also getting polluted by which , along with scarcity of drinking water
diseases spread through contaminated water is also becoming a great challenge.
And also , along with humans.....animals and all biological creatures and plants are
also at the edge of destruction. At this point our legal survey on preserving ponds
,watersheds,and other water bodies and life in them is being a subject area for
question.

Pollution from urban and agricultural sources, coupled with poor management and
protection measures, has contributed to a steady deterioration in the water quality of
the Vellayani lake in Thiruvananthapuram, a study conducted by the National Centre
for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) has revealed.The study published in the latest
issue of the Journal of Applied Geochemistry evaluated the difference in chemical
composition of nutrients like nitrates and phosphates and metals like iron in the
surface, bottom, and interstitial (trapped in the pore spaces of sediments) waters of
the Sasthamcotta and Vellayani lakes, two perennial sources supporting the
freshwater requirements of Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram cities.

The writers , Sheikha E. John, K. Maya, M.K. Vishnu Sagar and D. Padmalal, note
that the Vellayani lake is undergoing a steady deterioration in water quality,
compared to Sasthamcotta. The report observes that human intervention and
pollution from urban and agricultural sources are well registered in the Vellayani
lake. The nitrate content was found to be higher in the surface, bottom, and
interstitial waters of the lake.Fertilizer-intensive farming in the adjoining paddy fields
and the exponential rise in the quantity of N-P-K fertilizer use in Thiruvananthapuram
district from 1961 to 2010 are cited as reasons. A substantial portion of the unused
nutrients in the catchment area would reach the lake through surface and
groundwater pathways, especially during monsoon, the paper says.
However, the concentration of phosphates and iron was marginally higher in the
overlying waters of the Sasthamcotta lake. The interstitial samples of the Vellayani
lake again recorded higher levels of phosphate and iron.

A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land,
apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on
land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are
also larger and deeper than ponds, though there are no official or scientific
definitions. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually
flowing. Most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.

Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with
ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of
mature rivers. In some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic
drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over
geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin
containing them. Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for industrial or
agricultural use, for hydro-electric power generation or domestic water supply, or for
aesthetic or recreational purposes or even for other activities.

The Vellayani Lake is an important coastal wetland located south of

Thiruvananthapuram and north of Vizhinjam fshing harbor between coordinates
8°25'35.21"N and 76°59'35.87"E (Figure 1a). This wetland, spread over an area of
750 Ha in 1926, was reduced to 397.5 Ha by 2005. The length of this linear shaped
lake is 3.7 km with a maximum breadth of 2.1 km and a maximum depth of 3.0 m
.Currently this fresh water lake is a major perennial drinking water source for water
supply to the people of Kalliyoor, Venganoor and Vizhinjam gram panchayats. The
slow but steady urbanization and scarce land resource in Kerala has put the wetland
at risk by encroachments as well as land use changes . On account of lower depth
its peripheral areas are subjected to intensive paddy cultivation . Not much research
work is carried out on all dimensions of this wetland. Geomorphically, catchment of
the Vellayani lake falls within the lowland region (10-100 m), lying to the South East
of the coastal plain of Thiruvananthapuram district. The area receives rain from two
monsoons and pre-monsoon and summer showers and has a 50 years average of
218 rainy days an year . The hydrological map of the area showing drainage pattern
(Figure 1b).

Origin of Vellayani Wetland

Beside the natural drainages and considering geologic time scale, the area is
assumed to be without any wetland in the geologic past. Available evidence
suggests that south western coast of India should have been alongside the East
coast of Madagascar in pre-drift times .After the formation of the Indian plate, the
tectonic forces within the plate as well as the forces acting along the plate
boundaries directed the Indian plate to move @ 20 cm/year towards NE direction
resulting in the formation of Himalayan mountain ranges

.Considering the geologic time, these forces were also building up local tectonic
disturbances in the same direction within the land side body of the Indian plate. This
is truer considering the fact that Indian plate is the thinnest and fastest of all plates.
The lithospheric roots in South Africa, Australia and Antarctica are between 180 and
300 km deep, whereas the Indian lithosphere extends only about 100 km deep

While the anthropogenic surficial forces that could be a triggering as catelistic forces
the plate induced movements are playing larger/primary cause of 1000s of very low
to high intensity earth quakes at various locations in India including Latur earthquake
of 1993. At Vizhinjam the forces over a period of time initially developed a fold axis
(Figure 3a). Later along the fold axis, the brittle rocks developed a joint plane
considering geologic timescale.

Research & Reviews: Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences

The water retention in Vellayani Lake could be attributed to the relatively close
nature of the fractures towards the coast due to complex folding and possibly due to
the fault line developed as a result of tectonic forces from South and East. All these
are due to the presence of several older hard rock geologic formations present
underlying the recent formation . This direct hidden connection to sea refutes the
theory that there is no outlet to this wetland as reported” there is no out let to the
sea”

This process has also resulted in the basin formation near Vellayani, where lake was
formed closing almost all natural outlets for the water to drain out (Figure 5a) directly
to sea through a short cut. This is particularly true towards E and primarily from S
direction from where the tectonic forces originated and were active. Originally at the
time of genesis of the fold axis, it was already geographically at near 45-50oNE
almost perpendicular to the immediate west coast line. The nature of drainage
pattern and other surfcial features in the southern bloc of fold axis clearly exhibits
this characteristic of the concept. Further adding more evidence is the drainage north
of Vellayani Lake for about 15 km the continuation of the geologically weak zone
aligned along the same fault plane up to Aruvikkra in the upper reaches of Karamana
River.

From the feedbacks of the questionier distributed among 75 families,we are making
this detailed analysis of survey.75 family heads have responded to our survey and its is a
feedback from around 200-270 peoples ,who are the residents of that area adjacent to the
polluted vellayani lake.From part 2 of our survey questionier,graph of people respondent to
be adversily affected by polluted lake are provided In this questionier legal survey we get
help many ones by which we were successful in bringing a detailed report regarding this,

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
A – Denotes
B – Denotes
no of families C – Denotes
no of families
adversily
having no of families D – Denotes
affected by filed a no of families
alternative displeased by
the lake petition for
water the official
resources lakes cleaning
act.

In this graph

A – Denotes no of families adversily affected by the lake

B – Denotes no of families having alternative water resources

C – Denotes no of families filed a petition for lakes cleaning

D – Denotes no of families displeased by the official act.

 Almost 75% of families are very much displeasent with the negligence which has
been shown by the officials in this issue even after filing a petition before them.many families
responded that officials are not considering this problem even as a social issue,people
responded that most of the pollution is caused from other who are dumping biological and
abiological wastes in lake.also they said that wastes from many shops in venniyoor town is
also using this lake as their garbage bin.

100%
90%
80%
70%
60% CHILDREN
50% FEMALE
40% MALE
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 2 3 4 5

In this graph, it shows the bar diagram of diseases happened due to polluted water in lake
and also people who are suffering from other diseases.from the survey around 20 % people
is having jaundice due to the use of polluted water for their house hold purpose and we
found that most of then use this water due to inavailability of alternate water resource and
around 8% families have cholera in their house due to the polluted water .most of them are
under treatment and some are recoverying but still the reason for the diseases exist and we
can expect more patients from that region due to this

100%
80%
CHILDREN
60%
FEMALE
40%
MALE
20%
0%
1 2 3 4 5
Then we made a analysis over the rate of people suffering from mosquito related diseases
and the result was shocking as 44 people were suffering from different mosquito related
diseases past 2 months .from the analysisi and the location vist we found that the increase in
mosquitoes are due to the polluted lake as it been a perfect environment for mosquitoes
breeding,with respect to the past 6 months details of fever patients collected from venniyoor
hospital the authourity cited a mass growth of 33% increase in patients from the locality of
the vellayani lake premisis.

usage of water from lake

drinking
bathing
irrigation
husbandary

The lake water iis mainly used for irrigation and household purpose of people which
constitute almost 60% of water use and rest over another purposes.most of the water goes
to irrigation purpose around the vellayani lake wetlands and also towards animal
husbandary.it is clear that most of the pollution over velllayani lake is due to over use of
chemical pesticide and fertilizers which kills most of abiotic and biotic creatures .

Agricultural use of pesticides is a subset of the larger spectrum of industrial

chemicals used in modern society. The American Chemical Society database
indicates that there were some 13 million chemicals identified in 1993 with some 500
000 new compounds being added annually. In the Great Lakes of North America, for
example, the International Joint Commission has estimated that there are more than
200 chemicals of concern in water and sediments of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Because the environmental burden of toxic chemicals includes both agriculture and
non-agricultural compounds, it is difficult to separate the ecological and human
health effects of pesticides from those of industrial compounds that are intentionally
or accidentally released into the environment. However, there is overwhelming
evidence that agricultural use of pesticides has a major impact on water quality and
leads to serious environmental consequences.
 Migration chart

no of family migrated past 1

year

no of family planning to
migrate

no of family doesn’t migrate

due to their incapacity to
migrate
no of family want to stay

The seriousness of the lake pollution problem can be inferred from the graph about
the migration tendency of people from the surroundings of lake .around 4%
peoplehas migrated from the venniyoor due to the vellayani lake pollution and due to
wrong physical conditions happening from their ,and around 3% is planning to
migrate dur to this problem as the health condition of them are being worse from the
lake ,8% doesn’t have another alternatives to migrate and so their stay due to their in
capacity to migrate while 9% wants to stay their due to sentimence reasons and
personal reasons

40
35
30
25
20
15 2017
10 2016
5
0
pesticides
plastic
algae
bloom biological
waste industrial
waste other
wastes
In this graph its shows the percentage of wastes increase over 2016-23017 year and
we can find that the largest hike is on industrial and pesticides wastes,plastic and
biological wwastes also contribute much to the pollution of lake ,thgis shows the data
only regarding venniyoor area while in the view of whole lake it will be much bigger ,if
pollution from vellayani lakee has to be excluded then these pollutants must be bring
under a considerable percentage so that pollution and algae bloom can be brough
under control.

fall in regional tourists

2017
2016

fall in national tourists 2015

fall in foreign tourists

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Due to vellayani lake pollution there has a considerable percentage loss in tourists also
,vellayani lake was a favourite tourist destination in Trivandrum but now due to pollution and
authourity incompetency their happen a step fall in tourist outflow even in national and
foreign level.even regional tourists are also not been interesti ng in visiting vellayani lake dur
to issts polluted water and the problem of pollution is also now engulfing the tourism chances
of this lake also.
 PART - D

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

Vellayani lake is the only freshwater body in Thiruvananthapuram district and

it is a naturally occurring lake situated in Southern Kerala. Presently, the lake water
is being used for drinking purposes by the nearby villagers after treatment. The lake
was renowned for its rich fishery resources. But the fishery resources of the lake has
now dwindled. Only a limited information is available regarding the ecological
conditions of the lake. The lake is now fast degrading due to various anthropological
activities and as a result there is a rise in concern in the minds of the public
regarding its future.

It is well known that water bodies have played a crucial role in the growth and
development of society. All settlements across the globe have started along water
bodies and rivers. However it is true that the water bodies have undergone
degradation in modem times. Urban growth, increased industrial activities, intensive
farming and over use of fertilizers in agricultural productions are identified as drivers
responsible for degradation. Increasing urbanization coupled with industrialization
during past few years have resulted into depleting water ecosystems of major cities.
Our water resources, irregularly distributed in space and time, are under pressure
due to major population change and increased demand. Access to reliable data on
the availability, quality and quantity of water, and its variability, form the necessary
foundation for sound management of water resources. The different options for
augmentation expand the boundaries of the water resource in a conventional sense,
helping to match demand and supply. All components of the hydrological cycle, and
the influence of human activities on it, need to be understood and quantified to
efficiently and sustainably develop and protect our water resources.

The Kerala High Court, in its judgement, requested deeper investigation and
monitoring of the scheme and the judge clearly recognised the right of people to
clean water as a right to life enshrined in Article 21, observing that:“…the
administrative agency cannot be permitted to function in such a manner as to make
inroads into the fundamental right under Art 21. The right to life is much more than a
right to animal existence and its attributes are manifold, as life itself. A prioritization
of human needs and a new value system has been recognized in these areas. The
right to sweet water and the right to free air are attributes of the right to life, for these
are the basic elements which sustain life itself.”

Vellayani lake is also one important lake in our state and especially for Trivandrum
district and because of our deeds the lake is being a major health issue now. from
lour legal survey and from the analysed data we can infer that all people are getting
affected by polluted water from the lake and everyone is ready to do some thing
regarding this.the official are not showing any interest in this problem and people in
that locality is unaware about what should they do over this problem.lack of strict law
for those who dump waste in vellayani lake is encouraging others also to dump
waste in their .now the lake is losing its tourism attraction and also its credibility
before the people. pollutions adversely affecting the existing of the lake and also its
living organisms.

SUGGESTIONS

 Right to have clean water is a fundamental preserved right under article 21

(right to life)and its the duty of the state and nation to prserve water bodies
including ponds and lake which are underground water recharging hubs,must
be protected and preserved.so they can sue the official for their negligence in
this problem.

 Using national service scheme volunteers and national cadet crop voluenteers,or
college groups who are willing to help ,lake can be cleaned,and using strict laws
further polluting can be made liable

 Even locality families who are willing to cooperate in cleaning ponds if other too join,a
ground level coordination can help since cleaning of pond and preserve it from
further pollution is a social need.
 Pollution from urban and agricultural sources, coupled with poor management
and protection measures, has contributed to a steady deterioration in the
water quality of the Vellayani lake in Thiruvananthapuram, a study conducted
by the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) has revealed.

 The study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Geochemistry
evaluated the difference in chemical composition of nutrients like nitrates and
phosphates and metals like iron in the surface, bottom, and interstitial
(trapped in the pore spaces of sediments) waters of the Sasthamcotta and
Vellayani lakes, two perennial sources supporting the freshwater
requirements of Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram cities.

 The authors, Sheikha E. John, K. Maya, M.K. Vishnu Sagar and D. Padmalal,
note that the Vellayani lake is undergoing a steady deterioration in water
quality, compared to Sasthamcotta. The report observes that human
intervention and pollution from urban and agricultural sources are well
registered in the Vellayani lake. The nitrate content was found to be higher in
the surface, bottom, and interstitial waters of the lake.

 Fertilizer-intensive farming in the adjoining paddy fields and the exponential

rise in the quantity of N-P-K fertilizer use in Thiruvananthapuram district from
1961 to 2010 are cited as reasons. A substantial portion of the unused
nutrients in the catchment area would reach the lake through surface and
groundwater pathways, especially during monsoon, the paper says.

 However, the concentration of phosphates and iron was marginally higher in

the overlying waters of the Sasthamcotta lake. The interstitial samples of the
Vellayani lake again recorded higher levels of phosphate and iron.

 The paper points out that the overexploitation of water from the Sasthamcotta
lake, a Ramsar site since 2002, is responsible for the drying up of the
peripheral areas in summer. It calls for steps to mitigate the adverse impact of
unscientific human interventions on both the lake systems.
 LEGAL SURVEY QUESTIONIER

QUESTIONS

PART – 1

PERSONAL DETAILS

i. Name :.................................................................
ii. Address :.................................................................
iii. No of male members :.................................................................
iv. No of female members :.................................................................
v. No of childrens :.................................................................
vi. Education :.................................................................
vii. Occupation :.................................................................
viii. Ph no :.................................................................

SURVEY ISSUE PROBLEMS

PART - 2
1) Do you use lakes’s water for your daily house hold purpose?

YES NO

2 ) Are you adversily affected by the polluted lake ?

YES NO

3) Do you have any other reliable source of water for your house hold purposes like
well, pipeline etc ?

YES NO

4) DO your family members have any kind of diseases due to polluted lake?

YES NO

5)Do you throw waste in lake?

YES NO

6) Do you think others in this locality is polluting the lake?

YES NO

7)Do you think administrative side is neglecting this issue?

YES NO

8) Did you ever protested against this ?

YES NO

9) Did you file complaint in corporation or municipality for cleaning the lake ?

YES NO

10) Did corporation or municipality officials took any measures ?

YES NO

11) Did you or others from your family tried to clean the lake ?

YES NO

12) Did any protest were organised against this problem ?

YES NO

13) if any protest is organised against this problem ,will you cooperate with it ?

YES NO

14) Do any of your family member’s has cholera?

YES NO
15)Did you taking any preventive measures to defend the polluted lake?

YES NO

16)Did you think your elected representatives is weak?

YES NO

17) Are you planning to migrate from here due to this lake’s pollution?

YES NO

18) Do you have any other houses away from here ?

YES NO

19) Don’t you think all you must cooperate to clean this lake?

YES NO

20) Are you thinking to sue official in court for neglecting this problem ?

YES NO