Sunday 15 January 2012

Jammu's Wetlands on the verge of extinction

The Tribune, dated 15th Jan 2012 reported that two of the five wetlands of Jammu region have completely vanished and migratory birds are choosing just one of the remaining three wetlands for their seasonal trips.

The state government and Wildlife Department have completely ignored over the years that people have settled at leisure on these wetlands. Nanga wetland reserve in Ramgarh sector and Sangral Wetland in Abdulliyan sector near the Indo-Pak border are completely lost.

The dried up ponds at these wetlands could have been an attractive tourist spot and would have helped the government to generate revenue and jobs at such places.

The newspaper reported that the records of Wildlife Reserves nd Wetland Reserves of the department state 5 wetlands of the region, including Gharana Wetland Reserve (0.08 sq km), Pargwal Wetland Reserve (4.82 sq km), Kokrian Wetland Reserve (2.40 sq km) Sangral Wetland Reserve (0.68 sq km) and Nanga Wetland Reserve (1.21 sq km).

The Gharana wetland exists and receives birds but its future is bleak as its area has been reduced from 1600 kanals to 800 kanals now.

Regional Wildlife Warden, U Pachnanda said the administration is to be blamed as no initiative was taken to settle the issue despite issuance of a notification in 1982.

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