Standing committee for Sambhar Lake management soon
DECISION State officials to visit Odisha to study Chilika lake model
JAIPUR: The state government has decided to set up a standing committee for the management of Sambhar Lake, according to a decision in the interdepartmental coordination meeting on India’s biggest inland saline wetland.
The government will also send a team of officials to Odisha to study the Lake Chilika Development Authority, officials said.
The meeting, under the chairmanship of chief secretary DB Gupta, was held on November 26, and officials of environment, forest, animal husbandry and industries departments attended it. The interdepartmental meeting was held after the mass mortality of birds at Sambhar Lake due to botulism, a neuromuscular illness.
After the death of more than 20,000 birds at Sambhar Lake since November 10, ecologists had suggested to the government to set up an authority like the Chilika authority so that better planned process facilitates salt entrepreneurs make more money, offer greater job opportunities to local village people, and open up new avenues of business.
“We are planning to send a team to Chilika to study their model. The chief wildlife warden will lead the team,” said Sreya Guha, principal secretary of environment and forest departments.
In the interdepartmental coordination meeting, it was noted that Sambhar Lake not being under direct administrative control of forest and animal husbandry departments, responsibility of ownership and day-today management is a concern. “Therefore, it was decided to make the district environment committee (DEC) responsible for the day-to-day management of the lake,” the meeting decided.
The Jaipur DEC met two days later under the then Jaipur district collector Jagroop Singh. According to minutes of the DEC meeting, the electricity department was directed to remove illegal electricity connections to bore wells; the industries department told to monitor discharge of effluent in the lake area and stop illegal salt production; and the pollution control board asked to monitor activities of the salt production company and resort in Sambhar.
The CS review decided to call the salt commissioner in the next review for his views of the lake management. Chairman and managing director of Sambhar Salts Limited, a subsidiary of Hindustan Salts Limited, a central government undertaking, attended the November 26 meeting in Jaipur.
The meeting decided that regular surveillance and monitoring is needed on site for at least one more month to check further incidence.
Jaipur collector, representatives of Ajmer and Nagaur collectors, state’s chief wildlife warden, Jaipur chief conservator of forests, and Rajasthan State Pollution Control Bureau member secretary were also present in the meeting.
According to the minutes of the meeting issued on December 5, the government decided to notify the Rajasthan State Wetland Authority (RSWA), which has been done. Guha said the RSWA meeting will be held soon to deliberate on management plan for Sambhar.