Green groups ask PM to save all atlas-listed wetlands

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan of building 75 lakes in each district, as a 75th year of Independence endeavour is grossly inadequate, green groups have requested him to at least quadruple the target to save all wetlands — atlas-listed water bodies.

The National Decadal Change Atlas has recently identified 2,31,195 wetlands across the country and if they are divided by the country’s 765 districts, the figure works out to 300, NatConnect Foundation said in its communique to the PM.

“The water bodies are already existing and we do not have to make fresh efforts to construct them,” NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar said and appealed to Modi: “Let us just preserve and conserve them.”

“Thus, the PM could easily raise the bar four-fold and reset the target,” it said.

The Wetland Atlas, prepared by Isro’s National Space Application Centre, was uploaded on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Control website in February. The Supreme Court has already ruled that all the two lakh plus wetlands ought to be protected.

Kumar said the government could divide all the 2.3 lakh wetlands into parcels of 75 each, to retain the idea of Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav as desired by the PM, and task the officials and people to preserve and conserve them. This is important in view of the disappearing wetlands under the guise of urban development and infrastructure development, he said.

The PM could perhaps use this as the next Mann Ki Baat idea for May 29, ahead of the Environment Day to be observed on June 5, NatConnect said, and launched a social media campaign to increase awareness about the need to conserve the wetlands.

“Wetlands, as many are aware, hold excess water and act as flood control mechanism,” said Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan.

“They help in charging our ever-depleting groundwater level. Representing our biodiversity, the wetlands also serve as a source of survival for the fishing community,” Pawar said supporting the NatConnect campaign. Ultimately, wetlands contribute to our food security, he added.

The government could involve the local community volunteers to oversee the protection of these wetlands. “If each one of us protects the biodiversity, no one will be able to attack it,” Pawar said.