The catchment area of Sukhna Wetland spreads over 10,395 acres, including 2,525 acres of Haryana and 684 acres of Punjab, as per the Survey of India. With this, various activities will be prohibited, regulated and promoted both in the wetland as well as the catchment areas. [Kamleshwar Singh]The World Wide Fund (WWF) Thursday agreed to prepare a management plan for the Sukhna lake wetland free of cost. A WWF representative is expected to arrive in Chandigarh to visit the wetland next Monday.
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting held between the UT Environment department officials and the WWF.
Sources said that though earlier it was being expected that the WWF will charge money for the wetland management plan, its representatives eventually decided to not charge a single penny from the UT Administration.
The management plan includes water conservation, tourism activities around and inside the wetland, ways to stop deficit water in the wetland, preservation of the local flora and fauna, and controlling and regulating the boating pressure. A major threat to Sukhna is the discharge of pollutants from the neighboring states.
Debendra Dalai, Director UT Environment department, said, “WWF agreed to make a detailed management plan for Sukhna lake wetland. The management plan includes every aspect of the wetland. The management plan will be for a long period. A representative of the WWF will visit the lake next Monday. This will be the field visit of the representative. We will inform him about all the activities that goes on in the wetland.”
The WWF was the knowledge partner of UT administration for declaring Sukhna lake as a wetland. Though Sukhna lake was declared a wetland in 1989, the UT Administration again issued a wetland notification in 2019 under the 2017 rules.
Sukhna Wetland is spread over 565 acres. The catchment area of Sukhna Wetland spreads over 10,395 acres, including 2,525 acres of Haryana and 684 acres of Punjab, as per the Survey of India. With this, various activities will be prohibited, regulated and promoted both in the wetland as well as the catchment areas.
A wetland is a place where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh or a mix. Marshes and ponds, the edge of a lake or ocean, the delta at the mouth of a river, low-lying areas that frequently flood—all of these are wetlands.