The Water Hyacinth Menace: An Invasive Species Crisis in India's Waterways
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Environment & Ecology (Invasive Alien Species, Wetland ecosystems, Ramsar Sites, Climate Change - Methane emissions), Geography (Water bodies - Vembanad Lake).
Mains:
GS Paper 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; Biodiversity; Disaster and disaster management (Ecological disasters); Economy (Waste to Wealth models).
GS Paper 2: Governance issues related to inter-departmental coordination.
Key Highlights from the News
Main Issue: The ecological and economic crisis caused by the rapidly spreading Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in India's water bodies, especially in Kerala's backwaters like Vembanad Lake.
Origin: An invasive alien species introduced to India as an ornamental plant during the colonial era.
Main Impacts:
Economic: Adversely affects agriculture (in Kerala's Kuttanad region), fisheries, water transport, and ecotourism.
Environmental: Destroys aquatic biodiversity by blocking sunlight and oxygen from entering the water.
Climate Change: When it decomposes, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide.
Potential Solutions ("Waste to Wealth"):
Water hyacinth can be used to make handicrafts, paper, and biogas. However, these are still isolated experiments.
Administrative Failure:
The responsibility for managing this problem is divided among several government departments (Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment), leading to a lack of a coordinated national policy.
Way Forward: A unified agency, scientific removal methods, private participation for value addition, and promotion of research are needed.
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