Give a reasoned account of the problems of degradation and conservation of wetlands in India.
( UPPSC, UP PCS, 2019, 15 Marks)
à¤ारत में आर्द्र à¤ूमि के निम्नीकरण तथा संरक्षण की समस्याओं का यथोचित विवरण दीजिये।
Answer:
Wetland is an aquatic ecosystem with saturated water seasonally or permanently, the depth of water should be less than 6 meters.
Examples of wetlands are:
- Ponds, Marshes, floodplain, delta, estuary, coral reef, paddy field.
As per Ramasar convention, there is 37 Ramsar site which is internationally important in India but India has more than 5 lakh unidentified wetlands.
In the world, wetland areas are comprised of 6 % areas of earth surface and it is a habitat of nearly 40 % of all plants and animal diversity. Hence, the degradation of wetlands is a threat to 40 % of species.
The following are reasons for Wetlands degradation:
- Reduction in the inflow of freshwater to wetlands increases the salinity. Asthamundi lakes in Kerala, now becoming hypersaline due to the reduction of freshwater.
- Dumping of waste into wetlands site leads to loss of area and increase the pollution level.
- Dumping of waste along with the wetlands site leads to leaching of pollutants into water leads to a reduction of water quality.
- Drawing the unsustainable water from wetlands leads to depletion of water and shrinking of wetlands.
- Polluted agriculture runoff also killing the wetlands.
- Encroachment of site is also a major challenge
- Population pressure to wetlands for fish, water, other needs.
- Climate change
The following are the conservation steps for wetlands:
Wetland Conservation and Management rules 2010:
- It provides legal frameworks of wetland ecosystems.
- State government and local bodies to end the disposal of waste effluents into wetlands
Wetland conservation and management rule 2017:
- It decentralizes the power by giving full power to states to identify, notify, and conserve the wetlands sites.
- Target to identify the more than 2 Lakh Wetlands in India.
- Setting up industries, expansion of industries, waste dumping, and discharge of effluents in the wetland is prohibited.
- The Center will only monitor the Wetland status and actions of states and UTs.
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