Five waterbodies in Puducherry to get wetlands status soon

As many as five waterbodies in Puducherry will soon be declared as wetlands under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules of 2017. The long-awaited move will disallow encroachment or any construction of a permanent nature and enable conservation as well as sustainable use of waterbodies. Oussudu Lake, Bahour Lake, Vadhanur tank, Katterikuppam tank, and Korkadu tank.

As many as five waterbodies in Puducherry will soon be declared as wetlands under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules of 2017. The long-awaited move will disallow encroachment or any construction of a permanent nature and enable conservation as well as sustainable use of waterbodies.

The identified waterbodies in the first phase are Oussudu Lake, Bahour Lake, Vadhanur tank, Katterikuppam tank, and Korkadu tank. Of them, Oussudu Lake spread over 800 acres is a bird sanctuary and co-managed by Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The Puducherry Union Territory Wetlands Authority, under the Department of Science, Technology and Environment has been working since the Central rules came into force to declare some of the important waterbodies as wetlands. The process is in the final stages and they would be soon notified as wetlands.

According to Vanjulavalli Sridhar, Conservator of Forests, “Once an area is formally declared as a wetland, land use will not change. The move will also disallow encroachments or construction. However, traditional fishing activities will be permitted and the use of water by the locals, if required, will be allowed. Once they are notified, the Wetland Rules will be enforced and strategies would be chalked out for conservation and judicious use.”

The Puducherry UT Wetlands Authority is also in the process of notifying a few more waterbodies as wetlands in the second phase. “The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun along with the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore will be preparing documents and health cards for the wetlands to be notified in the second phase,” she added.

The draft notification process and the actual boundaries and GPS readings of the waterbodies to be notified as wetlands is under way. The notification will be sent to the Puducherry UT Wetlands Authority for vetting, the official said.

Official sources said the health cards would help in highlighting immediate threats and identifying priority areas for future conservation efforts. The water bodies to be notified as wetlands would be assessed on various parameters including water quality, encroachments, biological oxygen demand, annual bird count, management plan and benefit to the local community among others.