Wetland tag puts Bhopal lakes on global map

BHOPAL: What does the nomination of

Bhopal

for

Wetland Accreditation City

mean? How would it affect the city, and what is the condition of these sites as of now?
When asked about the implications of Ramsar sites of Bhopal and Indore being nominated for

Wetland

Accreditation City, State Wetland Authority official Dr Dinesh Damre said, “Once tagged as Wetland Accreditation City, they will be on

global map

.

Its protection and preservation would be a global concern. And other waterbodies of Bhopal and Indore will also be in focus.”
Upper Lake and Lower Lake of Bhopal were declared as Ramsar wetland sites in 2003.
When asked as to how effective have the global tagging of two historic lakes of Bhopal as Ramsar sites been in motivating the authorities and people at large in preserving the two sites, environmental activist Dr Subhash Pandey said, “Condition of the two sites is pathetic. We shall come to Upper Lake later but Lower Lake, you must not have seen a worse-kept lakeanywhere. Water quality of the lake is Ewhich is the lowest. If you dare take a plunge in the Lower Lake, you will develop itching in the skin.Chemicals from labs of MVM get released directly into the lake. There is not even 4 mg per litre Oxygen in the lake water, which is a must to keep aquatic life going. Only TOI had highlighted the death of 4000 fishes in the Lower Lake following which the National Gre-en Tribunal (NGT) sent an expert, who confirmed the death of 3600 fishes”.

Pandey further said, “Upper Lake was given A or B rank in water quality (fit for consumption) and when I challenged their finding and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) carried out the test, it reduced the quality to C category. STPs were installed to treat water from other sources going into the Upper Lake at the insis-tence of NGT and the work is yet to be completed. There are so many encroachments in the prohibited area around the Upper Lake and they have only increased with time. Biodiversity in the wetland around Upper Lake has reduced by 80% over the years. How does biodiversity reduce? When the quality of water goes down. The only positive thing of late towards preservation of Upper Lake has been theNGT-imposed ban on operation of cruise. Only giving the tag of Ramsar site or Wetland Accredited City won’t change the situation”, he said.

Dharmvir Sharma, who is fighting a case on encroachments on the Upper Lake wetland towards Bhadbhada on behalf of a law student Arya Shrivastava, however felt that National Green Tribunal (NGT) could make a difference in the situation. It has takena strong view of the encroachments on wetland and they are likely to be removed soon.
Sharma said “By BMC’s own admission, there are 222 encroachments on the wetland in Bhadbhada. The NGT has already asked for their removal but some people got stay from the HC but the case has been referred back to NGT by the HC and I hope in next 2 months, the encroachments would be removed.”
Dr Damre, when asked whether enough is being done to preserve the Ramsar wetland site, said “If activists or NGOs are saying that enough is not being done, I would say it’s everybody’s responsibility and we all have to contribute towards the cause.” When asked that the impression is that the State Wetland Authority or the department of environment and agencies working under it are not concerned over the issue of preservation, he said “You should talk to officer in-charge Lokendra Kakkar in this regard because I am not authorised to speak on behalf of the Wetland Authority.” Kakkar could not be contacted for comments as his mobile number was busy from the afternoon till evening.