Context:
- Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified new Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 to prohibit range of activities in wetlands.
- The new rules will replace earlier rules notified in 2010.
What are Wetlands?
- Wetland is transitional land between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems where water table is usually at or near surface or it may be land covered by shallow water.
- It supports rich biodiversity and provides wide range of ecosystem services such as water storage, water purification, flood mitigation, erosion control, aquifer recharge etc.
- There are 115 wetlands officially identified by Central Government and of those 26 are identified as wetlands of international importance under Ramsar Convention (an international intergovernmental treaty for conservation of wetlands to which India is party).
What threats Wetlands face?
- Wetlands are threatened by reclamation and degradation due to activities like drainage and landfill, pollution, hydrological alteration, over-exploitation resulting in loss of biodiversity and disruption in ecosystem services provided by them.
Key points of new Rules:
- State Wetlands Authority (SWA):
- It stipulates setting up of SWA in each State/UTs headed by State’s environment minister and include range of government officials.
- State government will also nominate one expert each in fields of wetland ecology, hydrology, fisheries, landscape planning and socioeconomics.
- Functions of SWA:
- It will develop comprehensive list of activities to be regulated and permitted within notified wetlands and their zone of influence.
- It will also recommend additional prohibited activities for specific wetlands, define strategies wise use of wetlands and its conservation and undertake measures to enhance awareness within stakeholders and local communities on values and functions of wetlands.
- In this case, wise use has been defined as principle of sustainable uses that is compatible with conservation.
- Prohibited Activities: The rules prohibit activities like conversion of wetland for non-wetland uses including encroachment of any kind, setting up and expansion of industries, waste dumping and discharge of untreated wastes and effluents from industries, cities, towns, villages and other human settlements.
- Digital inventory of all wetlands: Mandatory for state authorities to prepare list of all wetlands and list of wetlands to be notified within six months. Based on it, a comprehensive digital inventory of all wetlands will be created and will be updated every ten years.
- National Wetlands Committee (NWC):
- The rules stipulates for setting up of NWC, headed by MoEFCC Secretary, to monitor implementation of these rules and oversee work carried out by States.
- NCW will also advise Central Government on appropriate policies and action programmes for conservation and wise use of wetlands, recommend designation of wetlands of international importance under Ramsar Convention, advise on collaboration with international agencies on issues related to wetlands etc.
Changes in Policy
- The 2017 Wetland Rules have been criticised for doing away with strong wetland monitoring systems and omitting important wetland types.
- The 2010 and 2017 Rules for wetlands both emphasise that the ecological character of wetlands ought to be maintained for their conservation.
- ‘Ecological character’ refers to processes and components which make the wetland a particular, and sometimes unique, ecosystem.
- Under the new Rules, no authority to issue directions, which are binding in nature to desist from any activity detrimental to wetland conservation, has been prescribed to State wetland authorities.
Challenges in the New Policy
- There are challenges ahead in identifying wetlands – multiple and competing use is just one of them.
- Understanding the historic spread and ecological character will be important.
- In the 2010 Rules, some related criteria were made explicit, such as natural beauty, ecological sensitivity, genetic diversity, historical value, etc. These have been omitted in the 2017 Rules. There are a few reasons why this is problematic.
- First, there is multiple interest around wetlands. Multiple interests also have governance needs, and this makes it absolutely necessary to identify and map these multiple uses.
- Secondly, it is crucial to identify ecological criteria so that the wetlands’ character can be maintained.
- The key to wetland conservation is but conserving or managing the integrity of the wetland ecosystem.
- Finally, restriction of activities on wetlands will be done as per the principle of ‘wise use’, determined by the State wetland authority. Whether wise use will include maintaining ecological character remains to be seen.
- Salt pans are an example how one use (of making salt) has trumped the other (of environmental balance). Salt pans as ‘wetlands’ have been omitted from the new Rules.
- They were identified as wetlands in the 2010 Rules, as they are often important sites of migratory birds and other forms of biodiversity.
- The omission in the 2017 Rules suggests that while saltpans do exist as wetlands, they do not require any conservation or ecological balance.
- The inference can also be that it would be acceptable to tip the environmental balance or integrity of such a wetland, which could lead to damage and pollution.
Deepor Beel: A Case study
- Deepor Beel is a Ramsar site and a part of it is also wildlife sanctuary in Guwahati, Assam.
- This wetland harbours a wide variety of biodiversity, and also suffers from intense man-made pressure — the city’s municipal waste is dumped close to the Beel.
- NGT is monitoring the issue.
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