MoU signed to Conserve and Develop Vedaranyam Coastal Zone

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) and M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on 29 July 2011. The MoU was signed with an objective to conserve and develop Vedaranyam Coastal Zone project in Tamil Nadu.

The project will cost Rs.10crores for a period of three years. First instalment of Rs.4crores was released for the purpose on 29 July. The project will be undertaken under the World Bank assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management project. This project is to be implemented by M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai under the Chairmanship of Prof. M. S. Swaminathan.

The project is to conclude restoration and conservation of the coastal resources, promote scientific management of land and water resources and promote community based joint management and implementation of the coastal zone management programme.

The Vedaranyam swamp which has a vast mangrove, salt marsh and migratory bird population will be restored under the project and income generating activities for the local communities would be taken up the Gandhian Principles as well. The Vedaranyam Coastal Zone project was officially announced at Vedaranyam on 26 December 2010.

The Vedaranyam Coastal Zone project was initiated on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Salt Satyagraha based on Gandhian Principles. C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) had in 1930 led a March in Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu in line with Gandhi’s Dandi March, to establish that seawater is a social resource and that making salt from seawater is a basic right of every Indian. The march was in protest of colonial Government’s decision to impose a tax on salt manufacture.