20 years after Ramsar stamp, Tamil Nadu gears up to protect Point Calimere

CHENNAI: Two long decades after Point Calimere was declared a Ramsar Site, district level officials are gearing up with conservation efforts. The Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts’ wetland management committees have called for a public hearing and a stakeholder meeting to discuss plans to protect the site. Point Calimere is an important bird sanctuary, with over 20,000 birds visiting every year.
The wetland was designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 2002. The recently formed Nagapattinam district wetland management committee held a meet sometime ago, to better understand the problems plaguing the site.
The dumping of garbage and illegal sewage outflows are the major problems, according to a study by L Venkatachalam, professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies. “Work to restore wetlands are being taken up on priority,” said Deepak Srivastava, member secretary of the State Wetland Management Authority.
“We have been engaging with various departments that own wetlands, such as water resources department, revenue department, and fisheries department, to ensure they are all notified. Once notified they will be protected under the Forest Act which will ensure that illegal activities will be penalised and curbed,” he said.
State environment secretary, Supriya Sahu said that Point Calimere was taken up for restoration as part of the state wetland mission’s project. “Proposals for 13 other such wetlands to be declared as Ramsar sites and 100 wetlands to be notified as priority wetland is underway. All these wetlands will be restored. Community engagement will be an important aspect of the project,” she said.