Sambhar Lake, where 18,000 birds died, gets lowest ranking
DRAFT REPORT Centre’s wetland health ranking puts Sambhar in worst category, Keoladeo Park in Bharatpur gets A
JAIPUR: The Sambhar lake in Rajasthan, where carcasses of close to 18,000 birds have been found since November, is among the eight worst rated wetlands in the country, according to the draft ecosystem health report prepared by the environment ministry in consultation with several independent expert bodies.
The environment ministry in August, 2019, had started the process to prepare health index of 100 major wetlands in the country and the ministry officials, requesting anonymity, said the final report is likely to be released by the first week of December.
According to a government official familiar with the development, the ministry had asked the forest departments to selfevaluate the wetlands in their respective states on various parameters and submit a report.
“The parameters for Wetlands Ecosystem Health Assessment were seven including suitability of water quality of aquatic life, extend of plant invasion in water bodies and inflow and outflow of water channels,” said a senior government official, who was not willing to be named.
The self-assessment was then evaluated by a group having experts from Gujarat based Geer Ecological Education and Research Foundation (GEER Foundation), Wetlands International South Asia (WISA), World Wide Fund for Nature-india, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Environment Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO) and Chilka Development Authority.
The committee of experts then ranked these wetlands on eight levels with A being the best and E being the worst, officials said.
According to the draft report, the A category (A+ and A-) having wetlands such as Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, Little Rann of Kutchh in Gujarat, Sunderbans in West Bengal, where the ones, where the ecosystem management were found to be good. In all, 19 wetlands fall in this category.
The B category (B+ and B-), where management needed to be strengthened, have 26 wetlands. They include Pong Dam in Himachal, Vembanand Kol in Kerala, Chilka in Odisha and Doyang in Meghalaya, the draft report said.
The C category (C+ and C-) have about 21 wetlands including Upper Ganga Canal in Uttar Pradesh, Point Caimere in Tamil Nadu, Kokkare Bellur Bird
Sanctuary in Karnataka and Bhoj Wetland in Madhya Pradesh, the report mentioned.
But, the highest number of the wetlands, 34, falls in the lowest categories of D and E, which, according to the evaluation, needs “radical” improvement in management of the ecosystems.
“Sambhar Lake falls in the E category,” a Rajasthan government official, who was not willing to be named, said, adding that the bird death toll in Sambhar on Monday rose to 17,984 since November 10.
Rajasthan principal secretary, environment, Sreya Guha, said a team of experts came from various research institutes including National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal and Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly for physical correlation. “We sent them samples earlier,” she added.
Both Sambhar Lake and Koeladeo National Park in Rajasthan are Ramsar sites, which means these are wetlands of international importance. According to environment ministry, 27 wetlands in the country are Ramsar sites, as per the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ (called the Ramsar Convention).
Apart from Sambhar, the other Ramsar site rated on the lowest parameter was Loktak in Manipur.
“Most of the non-ramsar sites are in a bad shape except in Gujarat where eight of the nine wetlands were found to be in good shape,” a government official said. Mokarsagar in south Gujarat was in B category.
Dr Goldin Quadros, principal scientist at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), said, “Health card of wetlands was a proactive approach towards conservation of wetlands. The ratings will help the state wetland authorities to priorities their conservation efforts – those rated low will need for attention and better ecosystem services,” he said.
“The wetlands health ratings, he said, was not permanent. The ratings will be evaluated periodically and a wetland rated low today may get a better category tomorrow,” Dr Quadros said.