Telangana yet to identify wetland to receive Ramsar tag

HYDERABAD: Telangana has yet to identify even one wetland to receive the Ramsar tag despite a State Wetland Authority (SWA) being established in 2019. While 11 new sites, including four in Tamil Nadu, received the Ramsar tag for wetlands of worldwide importance, Telangana is yet to figure in the list.

On Thursday, which is World Wetlands Day, environmentalists lamented that the SWA had done little to support the conservation of wetlands. "If Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir can have numerous wetlands, why can't we, particularly when we claim to be a 'State of lakes',” remarked an activist.

According to the Wetlands Rules, 2017, the SWA is obligated to compile an exhaustive digital inventory within a year, a list of all wetlands in the state within three months of the rules' publication, |and a list of wetlands that the government must notify.  However, the state is yet to collect the data, as per a report submitted in 2020.

"Not a single water body from Telangana has been covered under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) scheme of the Central government. Several lakes such as the Ameenpur lake can be potential sites, particularly now that the government of India has relaxed criteria for wetlands," argued P. Raghuveer, retired principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF).

He explained that out of the nine criteria based on different species, ecological groups, waterbirds, fish, among others, it might be designated a Ramsar wetland even if one of them is met.

“At the moment, Hyderabad has no wetlands worth the Ramsar tag. Discussions should be held to ensure a certification in that direction,” remarked R M Dobriyal, IFS PCCF. More than 50 sites were listed and forwarded to the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the Ramsar tag, according to Dr. Nandan MJ, a member of the SWA board and a scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute. "We should obtain further information on its status soon. None from Hyderabad, but several from neighbouring districts have made it to the lists,” he told Deccan Chronicle. A former IFS officer who is now an activist claimed that the SWA did a poor job despite the fact that the definition of a wetland was widened to allow for greater conservation.