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Monday June 9 2008 14:50 IST

Express News Service

Kerala Tourism Watch, a coalition of civil society activists and local communities, has urged the State Government to wind up the Trivandrum Golf Club, clamp a ban on the game in the State and convert the 25.38 acres of verdant space into a biodiversity park

If not for anything, the coalition said that the manner in which the golf course sucks up the groundwater of a parched capital city should clinch the argument in favour of a close-down.

"Trivandrum golf course has been reportedly consuming lakhs of litres of water every day to maintain the grass turf.

Conservative estimates by various international agencies show that an 18-hole golf course would consume 50 lakh litres of water a day, enough for nearly 10,000 families in a state like Kerala.

In Plachimada, the water consumption by the Coca Cola plant was 5 lakh litres a day," a statement by the coalition said. For the coalition, notions of justice, too, are fundamental to their call to issue the Golf Club and its members a pack up call.

"At a time when the common people in the city face acute water shortage, maintaining a golf course with direct and indirect state subsidies violates principles of social justice," the statement said.

It also added that the golf courses are proving to be an universal menace.

"The golf courses are being increasingly brought into focus due to the environmental and social problems that they engender.

Everywhere in the world, golf courses have been a major threat for local communities, primarily in terms of uncontrolled ground water depletion," the statement said.

The argument that the golf courses would promote tourism in the State, according to the coalition, is completely unfounded. "While we are critical of the State’s tourism policies in general, we would like to point out that this argument is particularly flawed.

Studies have shown that tourists visiting destinations in developing countries, including India, belong to the low-spending segment of international travellers. It is unlikely that they will be interested in golf," the statement argued.

Further, golf courses will not be an adequate incentive for high spending travellers to visit destinations in poor countries. Allowing golf courses to flourish disregarding their environmental and social impacts, therefore, will only serve the interest of the local elites.

The coalition also called for a complete ban on golf courses in the State.

"We demand the closure of Trivandrum and Kochi golf courses and shelving of the proposed one in Nedumbassery. We note with extreme concern that the Nedumbassery project involves land acquired by evicting local people in the name of Nedumbassery International Airport," it said.