Is India equipped to protect Wetlands?

Wetlands play a crucial role in fighting climate change, apart from providing enough water sources for drinking and farming. It checks floods, nurture fisheries, regulates carbon levels, raises ground water levels, protects coastal regions and conserves biodiversity by remaining habitat for rare flora and fauna. February 2^nd has been observed as World Wetland Day, commemorating the international treaty on wetlands globally, enacted in the year 1971 at Ramsar, Iran.

Although India is blessed with abundant water bodies and declared that it is committed to adhere to Ramsar’s  treaty, India lacks concrete policy in conserving the rich natural resources due to lack of planning and co-ordination among various government agencies working in this direction.

State governments in India have established wetland management bodies but they do not meet at least once in a year to sort out a plan of action on wetland management in respective states. India is losing its wetlands at an alarming rate of 38% annually. It has been confronting with series of natural calamities like floods every year, killing tens and thousands of its people and damaging public properties.

National Wetland Rules-2010 was announced under the Environment Protection Act 1986 and the National Wetland Authority was formed in 2012. The authority did not meet ever since its inception and the authority was not renewed when it’s present term get exhausted.

Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change has asked the respective state governments to identify vulnerable wetlands in the respective states. Although the states have identified them and publicly notified them, no measures have been initiated to protect them.

State government authorities are shifting the blame on the central authorities, saying that the delay is due to change in certain government policies and the states are awaiting new regulations. According to the new policy, National Lake Conservation Program (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Program have been merged as National Program on Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) and it was announced in the year 2013. Yet, it failed to formulate guidelines till date, providing clear direction and road map on how to achieve the balance. “Although government is spending millions under various government schemes, nothing substantial has been achieved in terms of effective regulation of wetlands in the country”, observed   Koustav Chatterjee, working for  NGO ‘ Green Vigil’.