Kadmat Island

Kadmat
കടമത്ത്

A beach side resort at Kadmat Island
Kadmat Kadmat (India)
Geography
Coordinates
Area
Length	8 km (5 mi)
Width	0.5 km (0.31 mi)
Highest elevation	2-3 m (-3 ft)
Country
India
Demographics
Population	5,404 (as of 2011)
Density	1,705 /km2 (4,416 /sq mi)

Kadmat Island (Malayalam: കടമത്ത്), also known as Cardamom Island, is an island belonging to the Amindivi subgroup of islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago in India.

Geography

Satellite picture showing the atolls of the Lakshadweep except for Minicoy

The center most island of the Lakshadweep archipelago, in the shape of a tear drop, with 3.2 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) area, is located on a coral reef. Kadmat village is the only inhabited village on the island. It is in the shape of a "spindle" with a length of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi). North to South it has a maximum width of about few hundred meters (about 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) at the middle. Its southern end is the narrowest with a width of about 50 metres (160 ft). The island's topography is about 2–3 metres (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) above the mean sea level. Its surface formation consists of coral conglomerate overlying broken pieces of coral and coral sand. The lagoon of the island extends over a width of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) covering an area of 37 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and the water depth is shallow about 2–3 metres (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in). It has a shore line and has a sandy beach. The reef width is about 50 metres (160 ft). The tidal range lies between 0.6–1.6 metres (2 ft 0 in – 5 ft 3 in).

Kadmat Island is bounded by the Kavaratti Island to its northwest at a distance of 67 kilometres (42 mi). It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) away from Kiltan Island. Amini Island is close to Kadmat. The northwestern part of the Pitti Bank formation is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away on the southwest. Kochi is 407 kilometres (253 mi) away. The nearest airport to the island is on Agatti Island and flights operate from Cochin. From Agatti, it is a two and half hours ferry drive to Kadmat. Ferry services also operates from Cochin on the coast of Kerala but involves a journey of 16 hours.

The ecological setting of the island is composed of coral reef with seagrass, and marine turtles which nestle here. Keeping this aspect in view, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (India) has notified the island as a marine protected area to enable conservation of the island's animal, plant, or other type of organism, and other resources.

The island experiences an average annual temperature in the range of 24.2–34.4 °C (75.6–93.9 °F). Rainfall occurs during the monsoon season from May to September with an average annual rainfall incidence of 1,237 millimetres (48.7 in) as per records of the nearby island of Amini. The maximum rainfall recorded in a day is 241.8 millimetres (9.52 in). Humidity varies from 70-75%.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census the island had a population of 5,319 (projected population for 2011 was 6,526) consisting of 2,885 males and 2,034 females. Population density is 1,705 per sqkm. Decennial Growth Rate recorded for the period 1991-2001 was 33.48 percent. It had a tribal population of 3,873 of which 2,583 were literate. In this rural island the total workers as a percentage of the total population was 23.28 percent of which 20.00 percent was of males and 3.28 percent females. Malayalam is the dominant language of the people of the island and the literacy rate is as high as 90.4%.

Habitats

The island has three types of habitats namely "coral reef, seagrass and nesting ground for marine turtles."

Zoning of the coral reef is mapped under three zones of reef flat, reef slope and lagoon. Next to the shore line are the "fringing reefs" where fish species of fin and shell fishes spawn, and are found in abundance. As of 1986 there were 45 coral species in the reef. These are threatened due to human interference and natural causes. Live coral is reported in less than 1% area. There 9 species of live corals in the lagoon and reef slope area. The species of live corals reported are: Acropora formosa (staghorn coral), Acropora robusta, Acropora, Acropora subglabra, Acropora tortuosa, Acropora vaughani, Favites, Pocillopora verrucosa and Lobophytum Benthic organisms are reported on the reef slope and lagoon area. Macrobenthos are found in the inter-tidal and sub-tidal area with recorded number of "23 species of polychaetes, 3 species of crustaceans, 3 species of bivalves and 3 species of gastropods."

The seagrass beds provide crucial food for turtles, dugongs and other marine species which spawn here; these are under the threatened category of marine species. Seagrass beds also consolidate the coastal sediment, and the under laying layer and meet the oxygen demand of the water body. The fish species that are found in these water bodies provide sustenance to the people of the island. The seagrass species reported here are 7 out of 14 found in the Lakshadweep Islands; two important species reported are Thalassia hemprichii and Cymodocea rotundata. Seagrass area is about 13.8 square kilometres (5.3 sq mi) distributed around the island. Seaweeds recorded consist of 34 species, out of which 14 species are of Rhodophyceae, 13 species are Chlorophyceae and 7 species are Phaeophyceae.

Four species of marine turtles nestle here, and these are: Chelonia mydas (green sea turtle), Dermochelys coriacea {leatherback sea turtle), and Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill sea turtle) and Lepidochelys olivacea (Olive ridley sea turtle).

Twenty species of Phytoplankton and 19 groups of Zooplankton have been recorded in the reef slope and lagoon area; 33 species of benthic organisms have also been noted in the same area.

Economy

Apart from fisheries, the other major economic activity in the island is agriculture with 5% of the land area brought under cultivation. Coconut plantations are common along with the associated coir twinning. As rainfall is high and ground water in the wells is fresh, the crops grown consist of "red grass, groundnut, maize, sweet potato, grains, cereals, millets, papaya, banana and drumstick tree".

Fisheries

As a major economic activity fisheries is the life line of the people of the island. Fishing is done both off shore in the sea and during the monsoon season in the lagoon and reef area. Trawl nets and pole line are used for oceanic tuna fishing. Wooden boats are used for local fishing in the lagoon and fish species reported are carangids, cephalopods, perches, rainbow sardine, rays, sail fishes, sharks, skipjack tuna, and tuna.

Threats

The coral reefs are damaged to the extent of 10% (assessed by IUCN in 1976) due to anthropocentric pressure and also due to climate change. Dredging operation at the entry to the island is causing damage to coral species as the dredged material is dumped into the lagoon. Coral blocks found in the beaches and the coral flats are extracted for building activity on the island. This could cause serious geo-morphological changes of the island in the form of sea erosion of the shores and the beach. Coral bleaching, a natural phenomenon attributed to strong El-Ninos, which occurred during 1998 due to seawater warming is reported to have reduced the number of coral species from 45 to 9.

Tourism

Kadmat has tourist attractions of kayaking, snorkelling and leisure trips by a glass-bottomed boat for scuba diving. The island, in the shape of "tear-drop", has the best pristine marine wildlife across the west coast of India and is the only island where non-Indian tourists are allowed to visit. It has only one beach resort for 50 guests.

External links

• Hydrographic Description (Indian Ocean Pilot)
• Lagoon sizes
• Kadmat - Geographical information
• Kadmat - Oceandots at the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)
• List of Atolls
• An ornithological expedition to the Lakshadweep archipelago
• Sources towards a history of the Laccadive Islands
• FAO - An analysis of the carrying Capacity of Lakshadweep Coral Reefs