Overview
India’s wetlands, including urban lakes, cover almost 6% of the planet’s surface. They store a large share of global carbon, often outperforming forests per unit area. Besides carbon sequestration, they support biodiversity, regulate climate and improve human well‑being. However, rapid urbanisation is causing these water bodies to disappear at an alarming rate.
Key Developments
- Urban lakes are vanishing faster than rural wetlands due to land‑use pressure.
- Many remaining lakes are either biologically dead or eutrophic, limiting their ecological functions.
- Developers and municipal bodies often treat wetlands as vacant land, accelerating encroachment and systematic loss.
Important Facts
- Wetlands store carbon more efficiently than many terrestrial forests on a per‑hectare basis.
- Loss of wetlands reduces natural flood buffers, increasing urban flood risk.
- Eutrophication leads to algal blooms, depleting dissolved oxygen and killing fish.
- Urban wetlands act as green lungs, improving air quality and providing recreational spaces.
Exam Relevance
The issue cuts across multiple GS papers. GS‑4 (Environment & Ecology) requires understanding of ecosystem services, carbon cycles and biodiversity loss. GS‑2 (Polity) deals with governance challenges, land‑use policies and the role of municipal bodies in protecting ecological infrastructure. GS‑3 (Economy) links to climate‑change mitigation, urban resilience and the economic cost of flood damage. Candidates should be able to discuss policy measures such as the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, and the role of State Urban Development Authorities.
Way Forward
- Strengthen legal enforcement of existing wetland protection laws and penalise illegal encroachment.
- Integrate wetlands into urban planning as essential infrastructure, not expendable land.
- Promote community‑based monitoring and restoration projects to curb eutrophication and revive biodiversity.
- Allocate dedicated budget for wetland conservation under the National Urban Mission.
- Encourage research on wetland‑based carbon sequestration potential to inform climate policy.
By treating urban wetlands as critical climate‑resilient assets, India can safeguard its cities against floods, improve air quality, and meet its climate‑change commitments.