NPCA to implement conservation and management of wetlands

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Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) provided financial assistance to the States/Union Territories under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) and National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) for conservation and management of identified wetlands and lakes respectively in the country till the year 2012-13. In order to have better synergy and to avoid overlap, both the schemes of NWCP & NLCP have been merged into a centrally sponsored scheme namely ‘National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems’ (NPCA) in February, 2013. Accordingly, MoEF&CC is currently implementing NPCA scheme for conservation and management of wetlands (includes lakes) in the country on cost sharing basis between Central Government and respective State Governments. The State/UT-wise detail of funds allocated as central share during last 3 years is given as Annexure-1.

As per the “National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas, 2017 published by Space Applications Centre- ISRO Ahmedabad, a total of 2,31,195 wetlands (at 1:50000 scales and area >= 2.25 ha) have been mapped in the Country. The total wetland area estimated is 15.98 million hectare (mha) including rivers and excluding paddy field areas that is around 4.86% of the geographic area of the country. The State/UT-wise wetland distribution is at Annexure-2.

MoEF&CC has notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 as regulatory framework for conservation and management of wetlands across the country to conserve, manage and maintain the ecological character of the wetlands without restricting the wise use. Vide these Rules, inter-alia, the State/UT Wetland Authorities have been constituted and powers for identification and notification of wetlands have been delegated to the State Governments and UT Administrations.

MoEF&CC, by organizing regional workshops and number of programmes on the occasion of World Wetlands Day each year, creates awareness among the wetland managers, state governments officials, local communities regarding the importance of wetlands conservation and policy and regulatory framework available for conservation of wetlands.

 

Annexure-1

Annexure-1 referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q. No. 4203 to be answered on Thursday, the 27th March, 2023 on ‘National Wetland Conservation Programme’

(Amount in Rs Crores)

S. No.

State

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

1

Arunachal Pradesh

1.21

2

Bihar

0.79

3

Gujarat

1.52

3.00

4

Haryana

0.49

5

H.P.

0.12

6

Jammu & Kashmir

1.68

7

Karnataka

8

Kerala

9

Madhya Pradesh

8.41

7.00

5.4097

10.

Manipur

7.92

18.00211

11.

Mizoram

1.92

2.78

4.16877

12.

Maharashtra

3.90

8.10

3.00

13.

Nagaland

5.62

0.50

14.

Odisha

4.10

5.38

1.65

15.

Puducherry

0.50

16.

Punjab

17.

Rajasthan

18.

Sikkim

2.60

0.40408

19.

Tamil Nadu

1.37

19.

Tripura

3.13

20.

Uttar Pradesh

2.93

0.95

0.36534

21

West Bengal

4.29

 

Total

44.58

32.63

36.00

 

Annexure-2

Annexure-2 referred to in reply to part (b) &(c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q. No. 4203 to be answered on Thursday, the 27th March, 2023 on ‘National Wetland Conservation Programme’

State-wise wetland distribution in India

Decadal wetland inventory in different States

S. No.

State Name

2017-18

Number

Area (ha)

Area (% of wetland)

1

Andhra Pradesh

24104

1141606

7.14

2

Arunachal Pradesh 

1182

151104

0.95

3

Assam 

5902

849078

5.31

4

Bihar 

4526

374766

2.34

5

Chhattisgarh 

11457

342443

2.14

6

Goa 

742

24749

0.15

7

Gujarat 

17613

3499429

21.9

8

Haryana 

1905

33649

0.21

9

Himachal Pradesh 

215

94011

0.59

10

Jharkhand 

2635

187045

1.17

11

Karnataka 

14936

787127

4.93

12

Kerala 

1399

158336

0.99

13

Madhya Pradesh 

13947

861736

5.39

14

Maharashtra 

25935

1152625

7.21

15

Manipur 

132

67408

0.42

16

Meghalaya 

225

31002

0.19

17

Mizoram

127

19476

0.12

18

Nagaland 

148

21118

0.13

19

Odisha 

13331

719942

4.5

20

Punjab

1190

47024

0.29

21

Rajasthan 

13321

778824

4.87

22

Sikkim 

259

7049

0.04

23

Tamil Nadu 

26883

925712

5.79

24

Telangana

12338

566680

3.55

25

Tripura

416

18438

0.12

26

Uttar Pradesh

18555

1104562

6.91

27

Uttarakhand

172

112882

0.71

28

West Bengal 

12955

1130127

7.07

29

Andaman&Nicobar

2774

143238

0.9

30

Chandigarh 

11

336

0

31

Dadra NagarHaveli

12

2063

0.01

32

Daman and Diu 

59

2728

0.02

33

Delhi 

123

2773

0.02

34

Jammu & Kashmir 

404

164110

1.03

35

Lakshadweep 

50

79716

0.5

36

Ladakh

1073

373049

2.33

37

Puducherry 

139

5555

0.03

 

Total

231195

15981516

100