Rajasthan Government fails to notify wetlands

JAIPUR: The majority of the district collectors in Rajasthan haven’t yet notified the wetlands in their districts as per the directions of the State Wetland Authority (SWA), Rajasthan. In October 2020, the SWA had directed state officials to notify wetlands in their respective districts at the earliest. Only six districts have notified the wetlands till now, including Udaipur, Banswala, Pali, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh and Bhilwara. Twenty-six districts are still pending.

Various departments like Rural Development, Revenue, Local Self-Government, Urban Development, and Forest were directed by the SWA to update the inventory of natural/artificial wetlands within a month. But so far, no ministry has taken any initiative.

Wetlands are disappearing gradually because of the growing developmental activity. According to the National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas, a report released by the government earlier this year, the area of natural lakes and ponds has shrunk by 844 hectares between 2006-07 and 2017-18 in Rajasthan. Wetlands include rivers/streams, reservoir/barrages, tank/ponds, etc. In 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, as regulatory framework for conservation and management of wetlands in India, after which State Wetland Authorities were instituted in every state.