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Measures for protection of WetlandsAudit of emerging environment issues
International Centre for Environmental Audit and Sustainable Development 8th to 12th June, 2015
Parineeta DandekarSouth Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People
sandrp.wordpress.com, [email protected]
Section I: Introduction to Wetlands and their importance
What are Wetlands?
• Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010: “Wetland means an area of marsh, fen,peatland or water; natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static orflowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tidedoes not exceed six meters and includes all inland waters such as lakes, reservoir, tanks,backwaters, lagoon, creeks, estuaries and man made wetland and the zone of direct influence onwetland that is to say the drainage area or catchment region of the wetlands as determined bythe authority but does not include main river channels, paddy fields and coastal wetlands coveredunder” the MEF notification of Feb 19, 1991
• Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of thesoil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season(EPA)
• Wetlands come in many types, in many sizes and in many forms: High altitude lakes, bogs,swamps, marshes to rivers, floodplains, ox bows, deltas, estuaries, lagoons, flooded forests, toeven dams, tanks, rice paddies, and even shallow marine shelves and coral reefs: All are some orthe other type of Wetlands.
• Wetlands are highly variable and dynamic: they are water bodies but also include land. Their sizevaries according to the season.
• They are freshwater, brackish or saline, inland or coastal, seasonal or permanent, natural or man-made.
• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1971):“Wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland orwater, whether natural or artificial, permanent ortemporary, with water that is static or flowing,fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marinewater the depth of which at low tide does notexceed six metres.”
• Ramsar Classification includes: Permanent inlanddeltas, Permanent rivers/streams/creeks; includeswaterfalls, Seasonal/intermittent/irregularrivers/streams/creeks
http://accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/2007/research_web_pages/Ecosystem/2007ecosystemplants.html
Why are Wetlands important?
• Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems of the world! Some call them theKidneys of the planet because of their energy dissipation and purification qualities.
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimates that wetlands cover 7% of earth’s surfaceand deliver 45% of the world’s natural productivity and ecosystem services. Benefits ofthese are estimated at $20 trillion a year! (Source: www.MAweb.org)
• Despite these benefits, wetlands are the first target of human interference and areamong the most threatened of all natural ecosystems.
• Around 50% of the earth’s wetlands are estimated to already have disappearedworldwide over the last hundred years!
• The ‘full value’ of ecosystem functions of Wetlands is ignored in policy-making, plans andcorporate evaluations of development projects
• India has lost as much as 38% of its wetlands in just the decade between 1991-2001(SACON)
A “breathtaking” sentence from the Wetland Rules, 2010
“Wetlands are vital parts of hydrological cycle, are highly productive, support exceptionallyhigh biological diversity and provide a wide range of ecosystem services such as wasteassimilation, water purification, flood mitigation, erosion control, ground water recharge,micro climate regulation, aesthetic enhancement of the landscape while simultaneouslysupporting many significant recreational, social and cultural activities, besides being a partof the cultural heritage"
Importance of Wetlands
Water supply:
• Drinking, Irrigation, Industries, Commercial, Navigation, Hydropower, etc.,• Example: About 2 lakh farmers depend on Vembnad Kol Wetland in Kerala for irrigation• About 6 lakh people depend on Bhopal Lakes for water supply• Loktak Lake is the reservoir for the Loktak HEP
• Food in form of fisheries, rice paddies, aquatic plants, Kamalkakdi, Nadru, Makhana,Singada, etc. (over two thirds of the world’s fish harvest is linked to the health of coastal andinland wetland areas)• Loktak Lake provides livelihoods to more than 1 lakh fisherfolk• Chilika Lake provides livelihoods to more than 2 lakh fisherfolk
(http://www.netfishmpeda.org/publications/pdf/papers-articles/Chilka-Achievements-in-Fishing-chimes.pdf)
• Wetlands have special cultural value as well: they are related to religious and cosmologicalbeliefs, constitute a source of aesthetic inspiration and form the basis of important localtraditions.
• “Total economic value of unconverted wetlands is often greater than converted wetlands.”
Harvesting Nadru (Lotus stem) at Dal Lake
Harvesting Nadru (Lotus stem) at Dal Lake
Prayer flags at Tso Moriri
Salt resistant rice in Vembnad Kol Wetland: Kerala Photo: Scroll.in
Fishing in Loktak Lake, Manipur Photo: Seven Sisters Post
Bhitarkanika Wetlands Odisha Photo: walkthroughIndia.com
Water purification and detoxification of wastes
• Wetlands, and in particular marshes, play a major role in treating and detoxifying wastes.
• Natural wetlands, such as riparian wetlands, reduce nutrient load by removing nitrate and phosphorus from surface and subsurface runoff (Verhoeven et al., 2006).
• Some wetlands have been found to reduce the concentration of nitrate by more than 80%.
• Wetlands are low cost measure to reduce point and non-point pollution (Bystrom et al., 2000)
• East Kolkata Wetlands, also a Ramsar Site, are a remarkable example of sewage treatment by a wetland ecosystem
• Constructed Wetlands are being used in several places to treat sewage ecologically
Flood Control
• Wetlands play an important role in flood control. Wetlands help lessen theimpacts of flooding by absorbing water and reducing the speed at which floodwater flows.
• During periods of flooding, they trap suspended solids and nutrient load.
• They are considered to be a natural capital substitute for conventional floodcontrol investments such as dykes, dams, and embankments (Boyd and Banzhaf, 2007).
• “Kashmir Floods of 2014 can be termed as an ecological disaster. The disastrousdamage caused to life and property could have been minimised if the largenumber of wetlands that once existed in the valley, had been preserved," eminentnaturalist and BNHS director Dr Asad Rahmani said in a statement. “Even theBritish and former Maharajas of Kashmir used to consider Wular as a buffer forthe floods where excess water can be absorbed.”
• Wular Lake was once spread across 20,200 hectares, now remains restricted to2,400 hectares.
• In the last 30 years, nearly 50 per cent of the wetlands in the Kashmir valley havebeen encroached upon or severely damaged : BNHS
• “Dredging of the blocked channels, de-weeding, creation of reed belt,development of shoreline, establishment of aerators and carrying of fresh waterfrom streams to the lake need to be done on scientific lines for stoppingdegradation of the lake.
• “Rehabilitation and resettlement programme of the lake-dwellers needs to begiven top most priority.”
- Dal Lake Management Audit, CAG 2010-11
Mitigation of climate change
• Sea level rise and increases in storm surges will result in erosion, increasedsalinity of estuaries and freshwater aquifers, altered tidal ranges in riversand bays, changes in sediment and nutrient transport, and increasedcoastal flooding.
• Wetlands, such as mangroves and floodplains, play a critical role in thephysical buffering of climate change impacts
• A study on the Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem in Orissa (second largestmangrove forest of India mainland), estimated that cyclone damageavoided was highest in the village that was protected by mangrove forests.
• The loss incurred per household was greatest (US$ 153.74) in the villagethat was not sheltered by mangroves and lowest (US$ 33.31) in the villagethat was protected by mangrove forests (Badola and Hussain, 2005).
• Cultural services: Wetlands provide significant aesthetic, educational,cultural, and spiritual benefits, as well as a vast array of opportunities forrecreation and tourism.
Wetlands as Climate Regulators
• One of the most important roles of wetlands is regulation of globalclimate change through sequestering and releasing a majorproportion of fixed carbon in the biosphere.
• Wetlands sequester C through high rates of organic matter inputs andreduced rates of decompositions (Pant et al., 2003). Wetland soils may containas much as 200 times more C than its vegetation.
• Carbon sequestration potential of restored wetlands (over 50 yearperiod) comes out to be about 0.4 tonnes C/ha/year (IPCC, 2000)
• Mangroves are able to sequester about 1.5 tonne C/ha/year
• Drainage of large areas of wetlands and their subsequent cultivationat many places had made them a net source of CO2
• Coastal wetlands are playing a major role in carbon sequestration.(Kathiresan and Thakur, 2008)
Habitat for biodiversity
• Wetlands continue to provide refuge to some of our most threatened species from Gangetic Dolphins, Gharial, Swamp Crocodiles, Black Necked Cranes, several species of amphibians and fish, mangroves, Bengal Florican, etc.,
• Though wetlands support maximum biodiversity for any ecosystem, the rate of their decline is also the fastest in the world, as in India.
Section IIWetlands in India
Wetlands in India• According to National Wetland Atlas (2011) India has more than 2 lakh
wetlands greater than 2.5 hectares area and about 5.5 lakhs less than 2.5hectares.
• Total wetland area is 15.3 m ha, accounting for nearly 4.7% of the totalgeographical area of the country
• Area under inland wetlands accounts for 69%, coastal wetlands 27%, andother wetlands (smaller than 2.25 ha) 4%
• In terms of the proportion of the geographical area, Gujarat has the highestproportion (17.5%) and Mizoram has the lowest proportion (0.66%) of thearea under wetlands.
• Water-spread area of wetlands changes over seasons. Sikkim, Nagaland,Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Jharkhand have more than 90% of the totalwetland area as water spread area during post monsoon.
Wetlands in India Source:
National Wetlands Atlas, 2011
Number of wetlands in Indianstates
Source: NWA, 2011
Ramsar Convention on conservation and wise use of wetlands
• Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources
• Mission: “The conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”
Under the “three pillars” of the Convention, the Contracting Parties commit to:• work towards the wise use of all their wetlands;• designate suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of International
Importance (the “Ramsar List”) and ensure their effective management;• cooperate internationally on transboundary wetlands, shared wetland
systems and shared species.
Section IIIChallenges of Wetlands in India
• The world has lost as much as 50% of its wetlands in this century According to studiesby SACON, India lost 38% wetlands in just the decade between 1991-2001.
• In some districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan the rate was as high as 88% loss (SACON)
• Main challenges include hydrological changes, reclamation, encroachment, pollution,loss of habitat and species. etc.,
Hydrological changes
• Most wetlands are related with river systems and are impacted profoundly due to damming/ water abstraction. However, no EIA on the Wetlands have been carried out.
• Even Ramsar Wetlands are not spared from this fate
• Wetlands like Renuka Wetlands (proposed dam), Keoladeo Ghana Sanctuary, Upper Ganga Ramsar Site, Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Loktak Lake, Chilika Lake, Vembnad Kole, etc., are severely impacted by Dams which are affecting water and silt flows.
• We have raised this with MoEF CC as well as Ramsar Secretariat, without any strong action being taken
Reclamation and encroachment…
• About 34,000 ha of the water spread area of the Kolleru lake (Andhra Pradesh) havebeen reclaimed for agriculture in recent years
• Between 1973 and 2007, Greater Bengaluru Region lost 66 wetlands with a water spreadarea of around 1,100 ha due to urban sprawl (Ramachandra and Kumar, 2008)
• Out of 629 water bodies identified in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, asmany as 232 cannot be revived on account of large scale encroachments (Khandekar,2011)
• In 1968, Kolar district had 35,783 tanks, which reduced to 2,095 in 2012. (KarnatakaGazetteer)
• Same is the case with Mumbai coastal mangroves and wetlands in Maharashtra
• In Jammu and Kashmir, Wular lake and Mirgund wetlands have been reduced to one-third of their original size. "Wular was one of our best wetlands but in 1950s, 1960s and1970s government authorities constructed dams around this water body and alsoreclaimed a large chunk of lake and started willow plantations. People also startedcultivation of paddy in the erstwhile wetland area”.
• Dal Lake has shrunk from 75 sq kms area to a mere 12 sq kms while Haigam has beenreduced to almost half of its size of 7.25 sq kms, with other wetlands also facing thesame fate.
Pollution of Wetlands
• Most existing wetlands have become receptacles of urban and ruralsewage and industrial pollution.
• East Kolkata Wetlands, Mumbai MMRDA Wetlands, Chilika, Loktak,Kashmir Wetlands are all falling prey to excessive pollution
• As mentioned by several CAG Reports, including CAG report on WaterPollution, 2011, there is no baseline data on water quality ofwetlands, nor monitoring of their water quality
• While Bengaluru Wetlands have been in the news for privatizationand pollution, they have touched a new low by foaming over andeven catching fire!
Bellandur Lake on Fire.. Bengaluru, May 2015
Section IVRegulatory and Institutional Tools for Protecting
Wetlands
There are several legal tools which can be used to protect wetlands some include:
Indian Fisheries Act, 1857, Indian Forest Act, 1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Water (Prevention and Control of Pol1ution) Act, 1974, Territorial Water, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other, Marine Zones Act, 1976,
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1977, Maritime Zone of India(Regulation and fishing by foreign vessels) Act 1980, Forest (Conservation Act), 1980, Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, Coastal Zone Regulation Notification, 1991, Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 1991, etc.,
Institutional Mechanism:National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD), MoEF and CC
• NRCD of the MoEF manages National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and two Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), the National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) (115 Wetlands) and the National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) (63 Lakes)
• The NWCP was launched in 1987 and initially restricted itself to the notified Ramsar Wetlands.
• In 2009, it issued Guidelines for Conservation and Management of Wetlands and has identified some 122 wetlands for protection.
• For conservation of identified wetland, funds have been provided to the State Govts for activities like survey & demarcation, catchment area treatment, bio-diversity conservation, fisheries.
• Only 138 Crores released to various states so far. No separate Audit.
• In 2010, National Wetlands (Conservation and Management)Rules were promulgated
• The mandate of the NLCP Scheme has been pollution prevention and conservation of perennial lakes in urban and semi urban setting.
• Funding pattern under NLCP is on a 70:30 cost sharing between the Central and the State Government
• Sanctioned cost of NLCP till date: Rs. 1096.09 crore and conservation works for 27 lakes have been completed.
• No separate Audit.
• In Feb 2013, NWCP and NLCP were integrated into one scheme:National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA)
• “principal objectives of the new scheme is holistic conservation andrestoration of lakes and wetlands for achieving desired water qualityenhancement besides improvement in biodiversity and ecosystemthrough an integrated and multidisciplinary approach with a commonregulatory framework.”
• In 2012-13, 64.58 Crores were released for this program. There is noupdate on what is the status of this program. MoEF says that XII Planoutlay for NPCA is Rs.525 crore
• There is no performance appraisal or current status report on theseschemes. In some CAG audits, NLCP and NRCP feature.
• NRCP includes pollution abatement in 40 rivers in 121 cities in 19 states, with an sanctioned budget of 5779 Crores till December 2014.
• This program needs urgent audit attention due to its failure at improving the condition of our rivers.
RegulationWetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010
• In 2008, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a Draft Regulatory Framework for Wetlands Conservation, under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986.
• The Draft 2008 ‘Regulatory Framework for Wetland Conservation’ was put out for comments and suggestion and many organisations made suggestions.
• In May 2010, another draft of Regulatory Framework was put out for comments, which included the draft Rules, 2009. Again, a number of comments and suggestions were sent to MoEF .
• Finally on the 2nd of December 2010, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010, thus these rules now become a law.
• It calls for the constitution of a Central Wetland Regulatory Authority, Chaired by the Secretary , MoEF and, members from various government departments like Agriculture, Water Resources, Tourism, Social Justice, Central Pollution Control Board as well as four experts from the fields of hydrology, limnology, ornithology and ecology. Tenure of the authority is three years.
• It seeks to regulate wetlands which include Ramsar Wetlands, and what it calls ‘Protected Wetlands’ which include ecologically sensitive wetlands, UNESCO sites or wetlands near UNESCO sites, above the elevation of 2500 meters or below the elevation of 2500 meters, but with an area more than 500 hectares or any other wetlands suggested by the Central Wetland Regulatory Authority.
• Restricted Activities within the wetlands include reclamation, setting up industries in vicinity, solid waste dumping, manufacture or storage of hazardous substances, discharge of untreated effluents, any permanent construction, etc.
• Regulated Activities (which will not be permitted without the consent of the state government) include hydraulic alterations, unsustainable grazing, harvesting of resources, releasing treated effluents, aquaculture, agriculture, dreading, etc.
• The major functions of the authority include identification of new wetlands for conservation, ensuring that the Rules are followed by the local bodies, issue clearances, etc,.
• The State Governments are to submit a ‘Brief Document’ identifying and classifying wetlands in their state. The Authority will then assess the wetland and if accepted, the Central Government shall notify it as a ‘Protected Wetland’.
• The Brief document includes: broad geographical delineation, zone of influence size of wetland, account of pre existing rights and privileges, consistent or not with the health of the wetland
• Any appeals against the decision of the Authority can be made to the National Green Tribunal
Issues
• The actual Rules are drastically different from the earlier drafts, including the Draft Regulatory Framework for Wetland Management shared by MoEF in June 2010, just a few months before the Rules
• No regulation for wetlands less than 500 hectares in plains
• No regulation for wetlands important for social, cultural needs. Not even for drinking water and irrigation! These are specifically important wetlands, also the most vulnerable!
• Completely government-heavy constitution, with NO role for communities dependent on wetlands or affected by their deterioration
• No space for any entity: communities, expert organizations, individuals to nominate wetlands for regulation: These will be done by State Governments only.
• States are not known to voluntarily approach center for regulation!
• The earlier drafts called for a more nuanced management of wetlands, classification of Wetland Categories into A, B and C, regulation of wetlands which were drinking water sources, more decentralized and participatory management of Wetlands at Central, State and District levels, constitution of State Wetland Regulatory Authority, District Wetland Regulatory Authority, State Wetland Appraisal Committees, District Appraisal Committee, with participation of even Zilla Parishad members, etc.,
• There was wide spread dissatisfaction over these Rules, which now remain unused and unimplementable
• MoEF told SANDRP that they have tried to interfere least as both land and water are state subjects, but that does not hold ground as MoEF has rights to protect environment under the EPA
• No meetings of the Central Wetlands Authority have taken place since April 2012, for the past three years
• MoEF says this is due to integration of NLCP and NWCP into NPCA
• Member of the Central Wetlands Authority told SANDRP he has no idea of the status of this Committee, there has been no communication from the MoEF
• In the meantime, NO state has as yet submitted the “Brief Document” as per the Rules which was supposed to be submitted in 2012
• In effect, the Wetland Rules 2010 remain unimplemented for now and no new Wetlands have been Notified under the Wetland Rules since the past 5 years.
• Within a state, management and ownership of Wetlands is a contentious issue with overlapping ownership of Revenue, Irrigation, Forest, ZillaParishad or Municipal Corporations.
• Since the last year, about 9 State Wetland Authorities have been formed, however, its questionable how much power they have. For example, in case of a wetland reclamation case in Maharashtra, Government advocate herself stated in Aug 2014 that State Wetland Authority has no powers and there is no empowered body to check wetland reclamation!
• The member of State Wetland Authority of Maharashtra told SANDRP that he has no idea if he is still the member of the Authority or not, whether the authority exists or not. There have been no meetings of this Authority and no Audit of its performance.
• Significantly, there is nothing about State Wetland Authority in Wetland Rules 2010, so the legal background of such state level committees is unclear.
• States like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Odisha, Manipur, etc., have constituted Lake Development Authorities under various state Acts to manage individual or several lakes.
• LDA was thought of like a nodal body to coordinate rejuvenation of Wetlands. Bangalore tried to push for privatization of lakes through LDA, which was strongly opposed.
• Rajasthan has recently (March 2015) passed the Rajasthan Lakes (Protection and Development) Bill which vests all lakes in the State with the state govt and regulates any construction, water withdrawal etc., from the lakes.
Some State Legislations
• The Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008: No transfer of land, no reclamation of paddies or wetlands
• Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act, 2002: conservation, preservation of lakes, ponds and tanks, permanent demarcation of area around these wetlands and obligations to remove encroachments, while making efforts to rejuvenate the aesthetic beauty of these tanks
• Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) (Amendment) Act, 2002: Wetland Reserves declared as Conservation Reserves: “No person shall destroy, exploit or remove wildlife or forest produce from a conservation reserve or destroy or damage or divert the habitat of any wild animal or enhance the flow of water into or outside the conservation reserve”
• West Bengal Wetlands and Water Bodies Conservation Policy (2012), recommends that no wetlands and water bodies can be filled up, degraded, drained, converted or subjected to any kind of activity that is incompatible with the ecological integrity of the wetlands. Policy was formulated following a PIL on the state of wetlands
• The Government of Karnataka confirmed its intent to conserve lakes of Bangalore b“Preservation, Restoration or otherwise of the Existing Tanks in the Bangalore Metropolitan Area” y accepting in Toto the findings of the LakshmanRao Committee Report, February 1988.
Judicial Interventions• In a landmark judgement, Hon. Bombay High Court ordered ban on any reclamation or
construction on any wetland in the state of Maharashtra (March 2014)
• In May 2014, NGT ordered “Assess health of wetlands and submit a conservation plan for all wetland regions in New Delhi. Stop all sewage from reaching Dhirpur wetlands.”
• In December 2014 , NGT ordered “Present before it all officers who granted clearance for construction on Dadri Wetlands, Ghaziabad”
• In March 2015, Guwahati Municipal Corporation plans to shift Deepor Beel Dumping site following protests and NGT inquiry
• In May 2015 , NGT, fined two Bengaluru companies for Rs. 189.8 Crores for illegal construction over wetlands
• In May 2015, NGT halted all approvals given by the government agencies for construction of buildings on wetlands and catchment areas of water bodies in Bengaluru for three months
• At the same time, the NGT has taken some highly ambiguous decisions like in case of the Nirma Cement Plant in Gujarat, which actually revoked MoEF’s rejection to the project. In its Rapid EIA, Nirma had stated that the company was based on wasteland, which was actually a wetland!
• 4 committees had certified this is a wetland, but NGT did not agree! (Jan 2015, DTE)
• Recent battles include National Board for Wildlife (fraudulently constituted) clearinga road through Flamingo City, the largest breeding site for flamingos in Asia. Theroad will take 80 hectares of the Kutch Desert Sanctuary and will be a source ofcontinuous disturbance to various species. (Raju Kasambe, IBA)
• Again in Gujarat, waters from incomplete Narmada distributary canals are beingemptied at intervals into Nal Sarovar, Gujarat’s only Ramsar Wetland, altering itsecology. (3 June 2015)
Section VWetland Issues in past CAG Audits
Wetland Issues in CAG Audits• CAG has raised issues about Wetlands in its various Environmental Audits
Performance Audit of Water Pollution in India of 2010-11 was a suo motto effort by CAG, also based on public notices and suggestions received which highlighted a number of issues, including the functioning of NRCD. It looked at projects on conservation of 22 lakes in 14 states.
• Audit Finding: “MoEF had not identified wetlands associated with each river/lake and no identifications of risks to these wetlands due to pollution of river water/lake water had been carried out by MoEF/CPCB. Further, MoEF/CPCB had not identified the major aquatic species, birds, plants and animals facing risks due to pollution of rivers and lakes. As such, MoEF/CPCB was unaware of the risks being faced by the environment as a result of pollution of rivers and lakes.”
• “Risks to wetlands from pollution of rivers and lakes have been assessed by only two States: Punjab and Tamil Nadu.”
• “Seven States, namely, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Andaman andNicobar, Manipur and Assam had furnished priority list but no lake was funded in theseseven States under National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP).”
• “Six States, namely, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Tripura and Nagaland had not furnished their priority list of lakes but NRCD funded eight projects covering 15 lakes in these States”
• “We observed that out of the 22 projects test checked in audit, only two projects relating to Kotekere and Powai Lakes were completed. Projects relating to 18 lakes remained incomplete beyond the date of completion and one lake project had been abandoned”
• “Inspection and monitoring of projects being implemented under NRCP and NLCP was inadequate at all three levels, i.e., local level, State level and Central level. “
• “Many of the lakes have disappeared due to drying up of their catchment areas which have been reclaimed for uses like urbanisation. Most lakes in India are under threat from nutrient overloading which is causing their eutrophication and their eventual choking up from the weeds proliferating in the nutrient-rich water”
In its Report of 2010-11 highlighting Water Pollution in rivers, lakes and groundwater in Gujarat, CAG highlighted, that “state has not made any assessment of risks to wetlands, species at risk, As against its 831 wetlands, study was done by GEER only on 7 (0.84% Wetlands) and baseline selected was very low.”
Audit report management of Dal Lake (2011)
• “The State Government had not conducted any survey for source water protection”
• “Conservation of these water bodies has been a serious challenge for the State Government due to large scale encroachments, non-availability of funds and improper management. Although some progress has been made in the scientific management of the Dal Lake, other lakes in the valley have remained largely ignored” (Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) under the Jammu and Kashmir Development Act, 1970)
• It looked at a number of issues related to Dal Lake Conservation: pollution, encroachment, catchment area treatment, fish species, exotic species, utilization of funds, etc.
Performance Audit of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board in 2010-11 also talked about inattention to water quality of lakes, urban lakes in Navi Mumbai and MMRDA regions
• A CAG report placed in Andhra Assembly in Mach 2012 about landdealing in the state highlighted how 393.6 ha of land sanctioned forSompeta Thermal Power Plant was a water body and any suchdiversion was against Supreme Court Directions as well as State’s2000 order prohibiting alienation of water bodies for any purpose
• Along with irregularities of labelling wetland as wasteland, the CAGreport also highlighted the need for impact assessment on thewetland (DTE 2012)
Recommendations of Water Pollution Audit 2010-11
• “Right now, there are multiple agencies involved in river and lake conservation, right from planning to implementation and monitoring. There is a need to consolidate all these functions under an umbrella agency for better coordination and accountability.
• MoEF/States need to ensure that projects for source control of all kind of pollutants entering the lakes is included in projects for conservation and restoration of lakes, especially sewage and agriculture runoff which leads to nutrient over-loading of the lake.
• MoEF should ensure that all lakes facing encroachment and resultant filling up are included in NLCP.
• Further, all State governments should declare bio-conservation zones around lakes so that encroachment of shoreline is prevented.
• States should involve citizens in proposing and monitoring programmes to control pollution of rivers and lakes.
The road ahead..
• Due to their complexities, Wetlands come across as the least governed ecosystems.
• There is no specific Act to protect them
• The only tool the Wetland Rules are inadequate and are under review , though through a closed door process
• Ownership of water and land vests with states, but states do not seem enthusiastic in participating in central program
• NRCP, NLCP, NWCP need stringent auditing of performance and outputs
• Specific issues between state and center need to be identified and highlighted.
• Separate audits of management of Ramsar Wetlands, Socially and Ecologically important wetlands need to be carried out.
• They need to focus not only on water quality, but hydrology, catchment area, buffer zones, species, land dealings, etc,
• An audit of functioning of Wetland Rules (2010) needs to be performed and also the processes for implementing the acts.
• How do we increase space for people’s participation in management and decision making of their wetlands?
Some of our past work on Wetlands:
• http://www.sandrp.in/rivers/SANDRP_PR_WETLANDS_RULES_NOT_GOOD_ENOUGH_FOR_PROTECTING_WETLANDS_Feb_3_2011.pdf
• http://www.sandrp.in/rivers/Indias_wetlands_in_peril_Feb_2011.pdf
• https://sandrp.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/world-wetlands-day-2015-bleeding-our-wetlands-dry-rivers-and-wetlands-need-hydrological-protection-too/
• https://sandrp.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/world-wetlands-day-2013-include-rivers-in-indias-definition-of-wetlands-follow-the-ramsar-convention/
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People
www.sandrp.in
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